Where to earn the most interest on your cash

Looking for the best return on your cash, but don't want too much risk?

Sadly, savings interest rates still remain low, so if you prefer to have your savings in cash, now might be the time to look at getting a better rate by locking your money away for the short term.

If you're aged 65 or over, don't forget the new market-leading 65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds are now available from NS&I, although they're not likely to be around for long.

It's also well worth looking beyond high street savings accounts to the likes of current accounts and peer-to-peer websites.

Let's look at all of these and more to see what rates are on offer.

Instant access
The top rate of interest on an easy access account stands at 1.50% which is available with the Kent Reliance Building Society Branch Easy Access, though as the name suggests you'll need a local branch to open it.

The next best rate is 1.40% and is available without having to go into a branch from Earl Shilton Building Society and Coventry Building Society.

Notice
By giving up access to your cash for 120 days, you can earn a rate of 1.81% from Al Rayan Bank. Note that this is an anticipated profit rate, rather than an interest rate, as the account is run in accordance with Sharia law. The account can be opened with £250.

Cash ISAs
If you haven't used your annual tax-free cash ISA allowance (now £15,000), this arguably should be the first place you turn, unless you're a non-taxpayer. Disappointingly, short-term ISA rates have been falling in the past couple of months and some top ISAs have been closed.

If you want instant access, the NS&I Direct ISA and the Post Office Premier Cash ISA both pay 1.50%, though the Post Office rate is bumped up by a 0.85% bonus for 18 months. You can open the NS&I account with £1, or the Post Office ISA with £100. You can only make two withdrawals a year with the Post Office ISA too.

If you can cope with giving 120 days' notice to get your cash, then you can get 2.02% from Al Rayan Bank on a minimum of £250, which allows transfers in. Note this is also a Sharia-compliant account so the rate is an anticipated profit rate rather than an interest rate.

In terms of fixed rate ISAs, you can get 1.70% tax free if you lock up your cash for a year with Virgin Money with just £1, while over two years you can get a rate of 1.95% from the Post Office, so long as you deposit at least £500.

You can get 2.10% from the Post Office if you put at least £500 away for three years, or 2.25% until the end of November 2018 with the Coventry Building Society Fixed Rate ISA from £1.

Fixed rate savings accounts
If you want to lock your money up for up to two years in a savings bond, then Al Rayan Bank is your best bet. Its 12-month bond is paying 1.90% on balances over £1,000, while its 18-month bond is paying 2.02%. Al Rayan is also best over two years, paying 2.30% on balances from £1,000.

Close Brothers and Harrods Bank offer the top rate on a three-year bond of 2.50%, but with minimum deposits of £10,000 and £20,000 respectively.

Vanquis Bank offers the top rate over four years paying 2.61% on deposits from £1,000.

Over five years you can get 3.03% from Secure Trust so long as you have £1,000. Secure Trust Bank is also best over seven years paying 3.11%.

There are a couple of other options if you have at least £10,000 to spare. Agribank, which provides finance to farmers, is now offering a five-year bond paying 3.3% and a three-year bond paying 2.7%. These are market-leading rates, however your money is not protected by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Instead it's covered by the Maltese equivalent, up to a maximum of €100,000 (£74,100 at time of publication).

If you're aged 65 or over you'll be eligible for the NS&I 65+ Guaranteed Growth Bonds. There's a one-year fixed rate that pays 2.8% and a three-year fixed rate paying 4%. Both deals are market leading and allow you to save from £500 up to £10,000.

Current accounts
Current accounts continue to trump all the top savings accounts at the moment, for smaller balances anyway.

TSB's Classic Plus account pays 5% permanently on balances of up to £2,000, providing you credit the account with £500 a month.

Nationwide's FlexDirect account pays 5% interest on balances up to £2,500 for the first 12 months. The only condition is you need to pay in at least £1,000 a month.

Lloyds Bank is offering the Club Lloyds account, which pays 4% on balances between £4,000 and £5,000, providing you credit the account with £1,500 a month and set up two direct debits from it.

If you don't want to move your money around, Santander's 123 account pays 1% on balances over £1,000, 2% on balances over £2,000 and 3% on balances from £3,000 to £20,000. You need to pay in £500 a month, and set up at least two direct debits. There's also a £2 a month fee on the account but you can earn cashback on some of your direct debits for household bills.

Tesco Bank's current account also pays 3%, but only up to £3,000. You need to pay in at least £750 a month or you'll face a £5 monthly fee.

And Bank of Scotland's Classic Account with Vantage pays 3% on balances of between £3,000 and £5,000 so long as you pay in £1,000 a month. You can have up to three accounts too.

Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer websites allow you to lend money to other people and potentially earn a greater reward for your risk.

However, your interest isn't tax free and your money isn't protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, which is where the risk comes in.

Lending Works is currently guaranteeing a rate of 6% over five years and 5% over three years.

RateSetter's five-year income account says it is paying an average rate of 6.4% over five years, while Zopa is averaging 5.1% over five years.

If you don't want to lock your money up for as long, all of these companies offer shorter lending periods, albeit with lower interest rates. Take a look at our peer-to-peer comparison centre.

You could also look at the likes of Funding Circle, which only lends to businesses, and Landbay, which lends money to buy-to-let property landlords. There's also Wellesley & Co., which is currently promising a 7% return on a five-year bond to fund the expansion of its business, with interest paid twice a year. It's also offering 6.5% over four years and 6% over three years.

Accounts paying the most interest
Below is a table showing summarising where to earn the most interest on your cash. It's ordered by net returns.

*Not protected by Financial Services Compensation Scheme
**Only available to over 65s
***Protected by Malta Depositor Compensation Scheme to maximum of €100,000, not by UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme
****Anticipated profit rate

The account you go for will probably be determined by the amount you have to save, your attitude to risk and whether you want instant access to your money.

What's clear though is that if you want a better return on your money in the longer term, with a bit more risk in some cases, you're better off looking beyond traditional savings accounts right now.

Unfortunately, if you just want somewhere to put some money away in case of a rainy day, you're not going to be able to beat inflation unless you go for peer-to-peer savings. If you don't fancy that, you should still shop around for the best rate you can get.

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