Santander issues statement as savers ‘sent wrong documents’ in major blunder | Personal Finance | Finance

Santander has announced that customers who applied for its easy access savings account that was offering a top 5.2 percent interest rate yesterday will still get that rate, despite documentation saying otherwise.

Santander dropped the 5.2 percent interest rate of its Easy Access Limited Edition 3 account to 2.5 percent at midnight, which led to an influx of customers applying for an account to snap up the higher rate following an alert from Martin Lewis last night.

However, a number of disgruntled Santander savers took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to share that despite applying in time for the account, they received emails stating they would be paid the lower 2.5 percent interest rate.

@Jarramore wrote on X: “I applied for the 5.2% easy access account however, after receiving the paperwork this morning via email, it states it’s actually 2.5%? Any idea on this?” [sic]

@Djmulholland said: “I applied last night. Just got an email with my account details. Unfortunately, interest rate is only 2.5% so I’ll be closing it during the 14 day ‘cancellation period’.” [sic]

However, Santander has been busy responding to X users to explain some customers received the wrong information. It said to one customer: “Some customers who applied last night have received incorrect documentation. You will soon receive the correct documents.”

A Santander spokesperson told Express.co.uk: “All customers who applied for the Easy Access Limited Edition 3 Saver before applications closed will benefit from the 5.2 percent rate.

“Customers with this account will see the correct rate show within five days of opening and can contact customer services if they want to discuss any concerns with a member of the team after that time.”

Lucky savers should be able to benefit from the 5.2 percent interest rate for 12 months, meanwhile those who apply now will receive the 2.5 percent rate.

However, those who have missed out can still benefit from easy access rates higher than 2.5 percent. Taking Santander’s place with market-leading interest is Cynergy Bank’s

Online Easy Access Account (Issue 66) with an Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) of five percent.

The rate includes a 0.95 percent bonus for 12 months and savers can open an account with a minimum deposit of £1.

Interest is calculated daily and applied annually, and withdrawals are permitted at any time without penalty.

Placing close behind is Oxbury Bank’s Personal Easy Access Account (Issue One) with an AER of 4.94 percent, followed by Shawbrook Bank boasting an AER of 4.93 percent.

These accounts can both be opened with a minimum deposit of £1,000 and savers must be aged 18 or over to apply.