Warning to anyone with more than £5,000 in their bank account

Millions of Britons could lose hundreds of pounds a year by keeping their hard-earned cash in the wrong bank account.

Research last year found an astounding boast balances over £5,001, with an average of £23,600 – meaning many savers are missing out on valuable by not using a account.

Homing in on near-retirees, research by Shawbrook Bank found one in four (25%) 55-to 68-year-olds are storing over £3,000 in a current account, while nearly one in 10 (9%) are keeping over £9,000 in one.

At the time of writing, the average high street easy access account pays 2.92% interest, while the top account currently offers 5%.

On £5,000 over two years, not switching could cost you more than £208 in lost interest – assuming rates remain unchanged.

Adam Thrower, head of savings at said: “It is shocking to see the level of deposits being held in current accounts.

“Doing this might seem like the easy option, but people could be throwing away hundreds of pounds a year. Current accounts, not designed for savings, typically pay low – or none at all.”

“Understandably, people can be concerned about locking away their funds and this may be a reason they choose current accounts to store their wealth.

“However, if this is the case, they should consider easy access accounts, which now offer great rates of return while providing the flexibility savers desire.”

He added: “Alternatively, those with larger deposits could make use of tax efficient fixed rate ISAs potentially allowing the deposits to accumulate interest year on year.”

Digital Bank Chase is currently topping the table for easy access savings accounts with an Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) of 5%. The rate includes a 1.44% bonus for 12 months and interest is applied monthly. No minimum deposit is required to launch the account

Atom Bank Instant Reward Saver places just behind with an AER of 4.85%. There is no minimum deposit required to launch the account and interest is paid monthly. Up to £100,000 can be invested overall. However, there are some restrictions on withdrawals. A lower will be paid during the month a withdrawal is made.