Over three quarters (76%) of clients at Hargreaves Lansdown have opted for fixed-term savings products across the firm’s active savings portfolio, taking advantage of fixed rates above 5%.

The financial services firm has found that its cash ISA inflows almost doubled in the past year, increasing by 97%, with savers taking advantage of the tax-free rates on offer.

In May, savings rates have remained stable across both variable and fixed-term rates, however, HL said that this may come as headline rates begin to drop across the industry.

Head of active savings at HL, Mark Hicks, said: "There has been a flurry of fixed-rate savings activity this month. With the prospect of a Bank of England rate cut later this year, we may be seeing the last opportunities to get savings rates over 5% across ISA and non-ISA products. Across savings at HL, the most popular products remain shorter-dated fixed terms that offer the most attractive rates, with 76% of clients opting for fixed terms – this is an increase of 10% over the past three months."

The firm said that banks are starting to reduce easy access rates, with Metro and Santander cutting rates this week.

HL went on to predict that 5% easy access rates will disappear by the end of June, with savers who have excess cash in easy access accounts being urged to switch to fixed rates while rates are above 5%.

Hicks added: "I expect we will see 5% and above easy access rates disappear over the next month as easy access products suffer the most as we get closer to the Bank of England cutting rates. Banks are starting to get ahead of the market by removing products from sale or cutting rates drastically.

"We’ve seen a number of key players in the savings market slash rates over the past week as savings flows remain strong. The most stark of these being Metro cutting their easy access from 5.2% at the start of the year to now 3.5%. Typically, once one or two of these banks start to cut rates, the rest swiftly follow."

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