Swansea Building Society has increased the interest rates payable on all its savings accounts, for the second time in just two months. The second interest rate rise has been introduced from March 1, 2022, following a previous increase brought in on January 1, 2022.
The building society, with branch offices in Swansea, Mumbles, Carmarthen and Cowbridge, raised its savings account interest rates by 0.15% at the very start of 2022 and has now raised this by a further 0.25%. The latest rise means that all the Society’s savings interest rates have increased by 0.40% in the first eight weeks of 2022.
The decisions for both rate rises were taken to reflect the rate change announced by the Bank of England’s (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee in December 2021 and February 2022.
The ‘Give Savers A Rate Rise’ campaign recently applauded Swansea Building Society for its customer-focussed approach and its swift action to increase interest rates on its savings products.
The campaign highlighted the failure of all big savings institutions (excluding the Government’s own retail arm NS&I) to treat savers fairly and increase interest rates, despite the BOE’s December increase in base rate.
Swansea Building Society is currently one of very few building societies in the UK to have increased interest rates this year in line with the BOE base rate.
Alun Williams, Chief Executive, Swansea Building Society, said:
“Here at Swansea Building Society, we understand how hard it is for savers in a low interest rate environment, so we have made the decision to pass on these rate increases in full and within a month of the base rate increasing.
“Our Society has had another excellent year and while the Society’s Board is mindful of the challenges that may lie ahead during these difficult times, we believe that we must do the right thing by our savers and pass on this further increase, enabling them to plan for their and their families’ futures.”
