Saving

Savers have been given a boost after Paragon Bank launched market-leading rates, including a two-year fixed account offering 2.05%.

Over one million searches have been made on the Government's online pensions tracing service since its launch last year.

The first cash Lifetime ISA has already proved popular with savers, with thousands opened in the first week of its launch.

Savers have been given a boost after Atom Bank launched a market-leading two-year fixed account offering 2%.

No other banks or building societies currently have plans to follow Skipton Building Society's lead and launch a cash Lifetime ISA, MoneySavingExpert.com has found.

Skipton Building Society will launch the UK's first cash Lifetime ISA on Thursday. It'll offer an annual interest rate of just 0.5% – but crucially if you use one to save, you'll also get a 25% state bonus when you buy a home or turn 60.

New savings provider Ford Money, owned by the US car manufacturer, is turning its focus to regular savings, offering two market-leading accounts paying a fixed 4% AER interest for a year.

Plans to slash the tax-free dividend allowance from £5,000 to £2,000 in April 2018 have been dropped, but could be resurrected after the general election.

The launch tomorrow of the new LISA (Lifetime ISA) looks like it's going to be a damp squib, with only a few providers offering them. Yet don't ignore it. After all, £1,000 of annual free cash is nowt to be sneezed at - and for first-time buyers, delay could cost.