Martin Lewis urges Brits to act ‘this minute’ after Bank of England announcement

Martin Lewis urged millions of Brits to act fast after news from the Bank of England on September 22 (Thursday). The MoneySavingExpert founder spoke after the financial body kept interest rates at 5.25%.

The announcement is set to have a sudden knock-on effect for savers and the money guru explained what Brits must do now to avoid losing out.

Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Martin issued an "urgent savers warning". He said: "The Bank of England minutes ago voted to maintain interest rates at 5.25% – not increase as many predicted."

READ MORE: Martin Lewis says Brits can save hundreds by making banking change

You can read more money saving tips here.

He added: "It's therefore possible fixed-rate savings may shave down their rates at speed (as they're based on longer term predictions of interest rates)."

But it's not simple opening a savers account now as Martin advised Brits to hedge their bets and "play it both ways". He continued: "Open the fix today, but don't fund it (you've usually seven to 14 days to do that).

"Just hold it so you've got it available, and you can wait and see what happens to rates. If they go the other way, just don't fund the facility you've opened now – that's not a problem."

In recent months, saving rates surged as the base rate increased. Earlier this week, NatWest said the number of fixed-term accounts opened in the first half of 2023 was around 17 times more than 2019.

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The bank said more than 82,000 fixed-term savings accounts were opened in the first half of this year. This compares with 4,700 in the first half of 2019, according to NatWest's data.

If you're unable to open a fixed-rate savings account, don't worry too much. Experts advised although interest rates aren't rising, it doesn't mean it won't in the future.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "If your current fixed-rate deal doesn't come to an end for a while, don't lose faith.

"The Bank of England's insistence that the fight against inflation is ongoing means we could see more rises further down the line, and at the very least is likely to mean it keeps interest rates higher for a considerable period."

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