Over 8.3 million current accounts in the UK contain balances of more than £10,000, the majority of which are generating zero interest, according to new findings by savings app Spring.

Spring’s analysis of CACI data showed that this represents one in 11 current accounts in the UK, with a total of £284bn sitting in these accounts at an average account balance of £33,961. Of these accounts, 1.3 million contained balances of more than £50,000.

Of the total 8.3 million accounts, 80% or 6.6 million of them are earning zero interest, meaning many UK adults are missing out on significant levels of interest by not moving their money to a higher-paying savings account.

Further analysis of CACI data by Spring indicated that 74 million current accounts in credit are earning no interest at all.

“Cumulatively, nearly £400bn is held in current account balances in the UK,” Spring managing director of savings, Derek Sprawling, highlighted. “You would imagine that these would mainly consist of small balances, but our analysis shows that there are a significant number of accounts that contain sizeable funds, accounting for over half of the overall balance.

“Most people sensibly maintain a small current account balance to cover emergency costs and everyday expenses, but leaving thousands of pounds in your current account means you will be missing out on hundreds of pounds in interest each year.

“With nearly eight million current accounts containing significant balances, that money could work harder in a higher-paying savings account.”

---