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New TSB account: how to make £600 a year
TSB has hit the headlines with the launch of its new Plus current account promising 5% interest on balances of £2,000, worth £100 a year, but a Moneywise investigation has found how couples can get six times that.
There's nothing in TSB's terms and conditions to stop customers taking out two individual accounts - which could earn them up to £200 a year - but couples are also both able to open a joint account, providing they transfer £500 in to all of the accounts each month.
That means couples can open six accounts between them, potentially earning themselves up to £600 in interest over the course of a year if they deposit £2,000 in each of the six accounts.
That's a much better rate of interest than anything else currently available on the market – although the Plus account won't actually arrive until the end of the month.
For example, the next best rate is the 3% the Santander 123 current account pays on balances of between £3,000 and £20,000, but customers must pay £2 a month for the account.
Additionally, while customers have to commit to paying in £500 a month to each Plus account they open – which, in the case of a couple with six accounts between them, would amount to £3,000 a month – the money does not have to be a direct credit and can be paid in over the counter.
Moreover, as long as each account has a balance of £2,000, there's nothing to stop customers withdrawing the £500 monthly deposit immediately after paying it in. This means a couple wouldn't necessarily have to tie up £3,000 a month – or £36,000 a year – to earn the £600 in interest.
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Make the effort
Personal finance expert Andrew Hagger of Moneycomms.co.uk, said: "If you're prepared to put in a bit of effort up front to open the maximum number of permitted accounts, then the TSB Plus account gives you the ability to obtain a savings return far in excess of any instant access savings account and even more than you'd get for locking your cash away for seven years in the First Save fixed-rate bond that pays 3.5%."
A TSB spokesperson confirmed to Moneywise that there is nothing to stop a customer opening two individual Plus accounts, plus a joint account – or to prevent a couple opening up to six accounts between them.
[Earn £100 or up to 5% interest by switching to another bank]
