With an ambition to attract £2 billion in deposits over the next year, Zopa Bank has launched a 'hybrid' savings account, enabling customers to combine easy access and fixed rate accounts from a single dashboard.
As a base, the Zopa 'Smart Saver' offers a 0.72% return for immediate access to savings. Customers can then choose to boost their rates all the way up to 1.05% by locking their money away for longer with a notice functionality.
Research by Zopa among the targeted younger age group shows that while eight out of 10 adults under 30 want to organise their savings based on goals, a similarly large majority wants to create barriers and limitations on accessing portions of their cash to stop themselves dipping into savings for spending.
Merve Ferrero, chief strategy officer at Zopa says: “The Zopa Smart Saver combines the best of both banking and fintech when it comes to helping customers save money. By building on the foundations of the easy access account but evolving it, Zopa offers a higher interest rate in a sustainable manner. At the same time, it gives users control over how and when they access their money based on their goals.
The Zopa Smart Saver is the bank’s second savings product. It follows the launch of the Zopa Fixed Rate Savings account that amassed £1 billion in customer savings in only 18 months, topping the savings tables 15 times.
Says Ferrero: “Over the next 12 months we plan on doubling our savings portfolio to £2 billion while continuing to find innovative ways to help our customers grow their savings”.