Our range / Fixed Interest Savings Certificates /

How they work

Fixed Interest Savings Certificates give you a tax-free return at guaranteed rates. And you can hold them in addition to any other tax-free investments you already have.

• NS&I  - 100% security for your money
• Investment terms
• Issues
• Who can invest?
• Tax-free advantages
• Investment limits
• Access
• Cheque and debit card clearance
• What happens at the end of each term
• About the terms and conditions
• Protecting your personal information
• Banking Code

NS&I - 100% security for your money

With NS&I you can be sure that all of your capital is 100% secure, however much you invest. We can give you this guarantee because National Savings and Investments is backed by HM Treasury.

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Investment terms

We offer Savings Certificates in a choice of two terms, currently 2 years and 5 years. You can choose which term suits you best. Or you can invest in both.

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Issues

Each term is sold in Issues. We bring out a new Issue whenever the fixed interest rates we are offering change. This doesn't affect the interest rates on any Savings Certificates you already have - they remain guaranteed. But it does mean you can also invest in the new Issue at the new rates, allowing you to save even more tax-free.

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Who can invest?

Anyone aged seven or over can invest in Savings Certificates, either individually or jointly. They can also be bought on behalf of a child under seven and the child becomes responsible for them on their seventh birthday. You can also buy Savings Certificates as a trustee.

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Tax-free advantages

With Fixed Interest Savings Certificates every single penny of interest you earn is yours to keep. That means if you're a basic rate taxpayer, you would need to earn 1.88% before tax to match a tax-free return of 1.5% a year, for example. And if you’re a higher rate taxpayer, the same tax-free return would be worth 2.5% (based on tax rates as at March 2009). For the current rates on offer see interest rates.

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Investment limits

You can invest any amount from £100 to £15,000 in each Issue of Fixed Interest Savings Certificates. The more you invest, the more tax-free interest you will earn. And this doesn't count towards your allowance for our Index-linked Savings Certificates or cash ISA.

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Access

To get the full guaranteed compound rate of interest, you need to keep your money invested for the whole term. You can cash them in early, but you will earn a lower rate of return. If you cash in after the first year but before your Savings Certificate matures, you'll earn interest for each complete period of three months. If you cash them in during the first year, you won't earn any interest at all. To cash in a Savings Certificate held jointly, both investors need to sign.

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Cheque and debit card clearance

If you buy your Savings Certificate by cheque or debit card, your payment will be cleared on the seventh working day (ie excluding weekends and English bank holidays). Savings Certificates can only be cashed in after your payment has cleared.
 
For example, if we receive your cheque or debit card details on a Monday, your payment will be cleared on the Tuesday of the following week. Allow one additional day for each English bank holiday.

If you buy your Savings Certificates at a Post Office® branch and pay by cheque, your payment will take two working days longer to clear.

Please make sure you have enough money in your account at the time you write a cheque or authorise a debit card payment.

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What happens at the end of each term

Shortly before your Savings Certificate reaches the end of its investment term, we’ll write to let you know what offers are available at the time. You’ll have a number of choices:

If we don’t hear from you by the end of the Savings Certificate’s investment term, your Savings Certificate will automatically start earning interest at the rate on offer for a further term of the same length.

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About the terms and conditions

Please read the terms and conditions before you invest. If we make any changes to the terms and conditions after you invest, we will let you know. If any change is to your disadvantage, we will tell you personally at least 30 days before the change. In this case you can switch to another NS&I product or cash in your Savings Certificate, without notice or penalty, within 60 days of us telling you. For any other changes, we will let customers know by updating our website and if appropriate, putting a notice in a range of national newspapers.

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Protecting your personal information

When you become a customer of ours, we will treat all the personal information we hold about you as private and confidential. Click here for details on our privacy policy.

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Banking Code

National Savings and Investments subscribes to the Banking Code and has a formal complaints procedure with an independent arbitration scheme. Click here for further details of the Code or our complaints procedure. 

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