FIXED RATE BONDS

A Fixed Rate Bond is a savings account that’s designed to give you certainty about the interest rate you’ll receive for locking away your money for a fixed period of time.

Fixed Rate Bonds come with withdrawal and closure restrictions. This can be helpful if you want to lock money away, but it’s definitely not an account for someone who wants regular access to their money.

Fixed Rate Bonds are for a fixed period of time, known as the 'term'. Usually the longer the term, the higher the interest rate will be.

The interest rate payable on a Fixed Rate Bond remains the same from the time the account is opened until the end of the fixed rate period. There’s usually a minimum deposit needed to open a Fixed Rate Bond account. Depending on the type of account, interest will either be paid monthly or annually.

This is how they work for you and for us:

• YBS decides the amount of savings we want to attract and how long we want to hold those deposits.
• We work out the interest rate we can pay, this is based on the external money markets as well as our savings and lending plan for the year.
• We create a Fixed Rate Bond and put it on sale.
• New and existing customers make deposits into the bond. Usually, it’s just one payment, though we will keep accepting deposits whilst the bond is on sale.
• Once we’ve reached the target amount of savings, we stop taking deposits, usually with a few days’ notice.
• Customers leave their money in the account for the agreed period of time. At the end of the agreed period, the bond ‘matures’ and we add your interest to the money you deposited.

At this point, you can:

• Choose another bond with us, if there is one or more available.
• Withdraw your deposit and interest.
• Do nothing and and leave your money in the account the bond matures into.

If you're able to put a lump sum away for at least a year, you can often get our best savings rates with a Fixed Rate Bond.

The interest rate you open the account with will be the same for the entire term of the Fixed Rate Bond. This means you can work out how much interest you'll receive before opening the account, giving you the opportunity to decide if the account is right for you.

Decide how much you can afford to save, with no access and how long you can save it for.

To help with this, think about future financial commitments you know about. It’s also a good idea to have a pot of money that you can get quick access to for unexpected bills.

Then look for a Fixed Rate Bond that suits your needs.

You can only add to your account whilst the bond is on sale to new customers.

Once the bond is withdrawn from sale, you won’t be able to add more money to it.

Withdrawals or closure are not permitted during the term other than under the following circumstances for account holder(s) or their immediate family members: 

• Critical or terminal illness,
• Death,
• Redundancy,
• Nursing home or elderly care costs,
• Divorce
• Court order.

In these circumstances only, the balance and the interest to date of early closure will be paid.

Your eligible deposits with Yorkshire Building Society are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK's deposit guarantee scheme.

Find out more about FSCS.