Skipton Building Society is launching a new Christmas saver account, after a December 2006 survey by Moneyexpert.com revealed that more than four million UK consumers are still paying for Christmas 2005 while simultaneously shopping for Christmas 2006.
According to Skipton, the branch-based Christmas saver account is aimed at helping consumers to spread the cost of the festive season. It will offer an interest rate of 6.8% and allow savers to make regular deposits of between GBP10 and GBP150 a month to build up their fund.
The account, which will be available from January 15, 2007, allows a maximum total investment of GBP1,800 per annum and can only be accessed from November 25, 2007 when it will automatically become an instant access account.
John Goodfellow, chief executive of Skipton, the UK’s seventh largest building society, commented: Paying for the festive season on the credit card can end up costing more than was spent.
He added: What we’re offering instead is a way for savers to actually make money on the cost of Christmas, by getting a fantastic return of 6.8% on the funds they put away each month.