What are savings platforms and should you use one?

Products featured in this article are independently selected by This is Money's specialist journalists. If you open an account using links which have an asterisk, This is Money will earn an affiliate commission. We do not allow this to affect our editorial independence.

It’s a situation that many cash savers will be familiar with. You read the headlines proclaiming that rates have reached new heights, but end up simply keeping your money where it is.

This is reasonable – life is busy, and financial admin isn’t the most glamorous of tasks, even the pleasant stuff involving knowing you've bagged a best buy savings rate.

But this inertia leaves us stuck in limbo, and instead of making changes that could leave us in a better financial position, we maintain the status quo.

It’s likely that at least some of your savings are languishing in low-interest accounts. According to research from savings app Spring, £338billion is being kept across 51.3million savings accounts earning 1.5 per cent or less.

To help savers get more from their cash, savings platforms began to spring up in the UK about a decade ago

They promise to help you cut down on admin, avoid falling into the costly trap of losing track of savings – and say they can make you better off by maximising the interest you earn.

Yet, despite the advantages of savings platforms, to many savers they remain a little-known tool. At This is Money, we believe that shouldn't be the case and savers should seriously consider if managing their cash in one place would pay off.

We explore how, whether they’re worth your time, plus which platforms offer the top rates.

What is a savings platform?

Savings platforms are a home for your cash. You have just one log in that lets you compare savings rates from multiple providers. Then you distribute your money across them using the platform itself – you don’t have to go directly to the providers.

You generally won’t find accounts from the likes of Barclays and NatWest on savings platforms. Instead, they’re populated by smaller providers – often newer challenger banks, such as Aldermore, Shawbrook and Zopa.

Savings platforms are good if you:

• don't keep on top of the best rates or switch manually to better deals
• keep cash in savings accounts that generally offer low interest rates
• hold your savings in a current account
• are prepared to distribute your cash among smaller providers

Savings platforms aren’t the right choice if you:

• are already up to date with the best rates and like to switch accounts regularly
• want the absolute best rates possible at the time
• like to bank with high-street names
• are prepared to take more risks with your money for the potential of higher growth, such as investing – find out how to start in our guide to investing for beginners

> Read more: Our pick of the best stocks and shares Isas to get started 

Which savings platforms are available?

Several savings platforms have sprung up in the UK in the last few years. These include:

• Aviva Save
• Flagstone
• Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings*
• Prosper*
• Raisin UK*
• Savings by Moneysupermarket*

There’s not much difference in the way they work for standard savers holding British pounds. For instance, most don't charge any fees.

But the accounts available through each platform vary and so do the rates on offer.

It’s likely that your choice of savings platform will be driven by the best rate on offer at the time, as well as the availability of any new customer bonuses or deals.

Hargreaves Lansdown and Raisin UK regularly run sign up bonuses for example, such as cashback when depositing a certain amount.

Prosper boosts the rate on certain accounts to encourage new customers to join.

There may be variations in how you can open and manage the account too. For example, both Prosper and Savings by Moneysupermarket are app-only.

The platforms don’t all partner with the same banks. Some boast about working with more than 65, while others offer a smaller selection.

You should also check the minimum deposit required with each, for instance Flagstone asks for £10,000 to start.  

What are the best rates on savings platforms?

We've picked out the top rates on offer from four of the best-known savings platforms, Flagstone, Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings, Prosper and Raisin UK. We also give the best rate available directly from providers, which you can check in our savings tables.

Best easy-access savings account: 4.15%, Raisin UK*

• Provider: Whiteaway Laidlaw (part of Shawbrook)
• Save between: £5,000 and £120,000
• Best rate in our independent savings tables: Spring offers 5% but the maximum balance is £5,000.

Best one-year fixed savings account: 4.92%, Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings* 

• Provider: National Bank of Kuwait
• Save between: £5,000 and £500,000
• Best rate in our independent savings tables: Kent Reliance, 5.06% (£1,000+)

Best two-year fixed savings account: 4.96%, Raisin UK*

• Provider: Shawbrook
• Save between: £500-£100,000
• Best rate in our independent savings tables: GB Bank, 5.10% (£1,000+) 

Best five-year fixed savings account: 5.02%, Raisin UK*

• Provider: Atom Bank
• Save between: £1,000-£120,000
• Best rate in our independent savings tables: The Melton BS, 5.33% (£1,000+) 

Best cash Isa: 4.52%, Hargreaves Lansdown (easy access)*

• Provider: Hargreaves Lansdown powered by Shawbrook
• Minimum deposit: £1
• Best easy-access rate in our independent savings tables: Trading 212, 5.01%, including 1.41% 12-month bonus (£1+)*

Note that we update these rates regularly, but they change all the time so it's best to compare what's currently  available when deciding on which platform to use.

> Read more: Five of the best cash Isas 

How do savings platforms keep you on the best rates?

The good thing about savings platforms is that it’s straightforward to switch to the top rates. This can make you more money in the long run and is potentially worth hundreds a year, according to Hargreaves Lansdown.

Research from the provider shows that:

• Someone switching to the best easy-access rate available on its Active Savings platform each month from July 2025 to June 2026 would have earned £806.98 in interest.
• If that person stuck with the average rates available from banks and building societies, which is easy to do when attractive initial rates are withdrawn, they would have earned just £438.
• And if you took the average instant access rate across just the big banks in the 12 months to August 2026, which is a measly 0.95 per cent, that figure plummets further still to £190.

Sticking with those average rates means that the saver loses money in real terms. The effect of inflation means that if your money isn't growing at least at the same pace as prices are rising, then you aren't able to buy as much.

So what's the catch? 

The caveat is that the rates are sometimes lower than those available directly from the provider.

Even though you aren’t usually charged fees to use a savings platform, you could see this as the cost of using one. Savings platforms generally charge banks and savings providers a fee to be on the platform, which is reflected in the lower rates.

It’s essentially the trade-off for the ease of switching to better paying accounts. Even if the rate is a little lower, the fact that you’re staying on the best ones keeps your money working as hard as possible.

Savings platforms can also make money by taking a cut of the interest from the accounts you open – which also accounts for the lower rates – as well as retaining interest on the uninvested cash in your holding account.

Savings platforms can keep you on top rates, overcoming inertia and helping your money grow

How you could save time on admin with a savings platform

If you need to report savings income to HMRC – for example, you’re self-employed or earn more than £10,000 in savings or investment income each year – you need to check exactly how much interest you’ve earned from each account.

You should be able to get a statement of interest from your bank, but if you have a portfolio of accounts, hunting these down can turn into a headache.

With a savings platform, you only need to download one consolidated tax certificate. This document tallies your interest across all partner banks for the exact tax year (April 6 to April 5), cutting down on admin.

Even if you don't do a Self Assessment tax return, this single certificate is useful. If you exceed your personal savings allowance, HMRC automatically adjusts your tax code to collect what you owe. Having one clear document makes it straightforward to check HMRC's workings and make sure your tax code is correct.

You'll also only need to go through one identity check, rather than the multiple needed when going to providers directly.

What protection does your money have on a savings platform?

Another advantage of a savings platform is that your money could be better protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).

The FSCS safeguards your money if a provider were to go bust up to £120,000 for each institution.

Note that this isn’t per account. If you keep a large amount of money with one bank for example, across a current account and various savings accounts, it’s only protected for up to £120,000.

This is no small figure of course. But for those who keep large sums in cash, spreading the risk across multiple providers is a wise move – and savings platforms make this straightforward.

If you have £350,000 in cash savings, for example, you could spread this across three accounts on a savings platform to keep your money fully protected under the FSCS. You might do this in one easy access account and two fixed-rate accounts.

Be aware that some platforms feature European banks, which are covered by the European Deposit Guarantee Scheme up to €100,000 rather than the UK's FSCS.

What about the disadvantages of savings platforms?

Other than the lower rates offered, savings platforms have further downsides. These include:

Longer waits to receive your money. There are more steps when withdrawing, because your money goes from the partner bank to the hub account then to your current account. It can take one or two working days, so isn’t necessarily instant or easy access.

Higher minimum deposits. Some platforms let you get started from just £1, but Flagstone asks for a huge £10,000.

No direct relationship with the underlying bank. You can’t deal with the banks or savings providers your money is held with, because it’s held in trust in the platform’s name. This cuts down on admin, but you should be confident in the platform’s customer service team and its ability to solve issues.

Annual interest payments aren’t always reinvested. When saving in fixed-rate accounts, you need to check whether the annual interest is paid into your hub account. If so, you must manually reinvest it to benefit from compounding.

Not every platform offers joint accounts. If you want to save with someone else – for example to benefit from double FSCS protection – your choice of savings platform is limited. Flagstone offers joint accounts, but Hargreaves Lansdown and Raisin don’t.

What is a hub account?

When you initially deposit money to the savings platform, it holds your money in a hub account. This is separate to the platform’s other assets and is usually provided by a bank such as HSBC or Barclays.

Your money isn’t earning interest while sitting in this holding account, so it’s important that you stash it in an interest-bearing one as soon as possible.

Keep in mind that when switching between providers, the money will return to the hub account first.

And if you choose a fixed-rate account, when your money matures at the end of the term, your cash will be sent to the hub account. It’s a good idea to set a calendar reminder for the end of the fixed-rate term, because then you can move it to another account earning interest straight away.

Is your money protected in a hub account?

Your money should be protected if either the savings platform or the bank providing the holding account were to fail.

The savings platform will be guided by safeguarding rules from the regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, which means your money is treated as separate from its own assets in the event of collapse.

And the FSCS protects your money for up to £120,000 for each bank, so you should check which one provides the platform’s holding account.

If you have £100,000 in a holding account that’s provided by Barclays, for example, and £50,000 directly with Barclays, this leaves £30,000 liable if anything were to go wrong.

In reality you shouldn’t keep your money in the hub account for too long. When you switch it to a savings account, it’s then protected under the FSCS for that provider.

The FSCS applies to each banking licence

A nuance to FSCS protection is that it applies to each banking licence. Some high-street banks have multiple brands operating under the same banking licence, such as HSBC and First Direct.

In this scenario, if you have accounts with both HSBC and First Direct, your money will be protected for up to £120,000 rather than £240,000, because they operate under one banking licence.

Do savings platforms offer Isas?

Some savings platforms also offer cash Isas, but you must manage it as a separate account. You won’t be able to move your money directly from a normal savings account into a cash Isa and vice versa.

The concept is still the same. You deposit money into your hub account, which you then distribute among several different Isa providers to make sure you’re getting the best rates.

Why can’t you move money directly between your savings accounts and cash Isas? 

An Isa is a tax-free wrapper for your money, so you don’t need to pay income tax on the interest you earn. HMRC requires providers to report Isa funds separately, which is why they don’t allow you to mix your deposits.

The best cash Isas

Products featured are independently selected by This is Money's specialist journalists. If you open an account using links which have an asterisk, This is Money will earn an affiliate commission. We do not allow this to affect our editorial independence.

A cash Isa is an essential account for savers that protects you from tax on your interest.

This means that your pot can grow without tax dragging it back - something that is especially important for the growing number of 40 per cent taxpayers.

This is Money's savings experts scour the market for the real best cash Isa deals - looking for top rates and accounts that come without catches to trip you up. 

Below you can find a run down of our top deals and you can check all the best cash Isa rates in our savings tables.

Trading 212* - easy access - 5.01% (1.41% 12-month bonus) 

- Facts: £1 to open 

- Transfers in: Yes (bonus rate applies only on contributions made this tax year)

- Flexible: Yes

Hargreaves Lansdown* - easy access - 4.52% 

- Facts: £1 to open

- Transfers in: Yes (but must transfer to its stocks and shares Isa first)