ERNIE draws two September jackpot millionaires as Premium Bonds approach 70th anniversary

• September’s £1 million jackpot winners come from Norwich and London
• ERNIE has drawn over 6.5 million prizes this month worth more than £497 million
• ERNIE has now drawn 858 million prizes since the first draw in June 1957
• Premium Bonds will celebrate their 70th anniversary in November 2026, marking 70 years since they first went on sale in November 1956

Two Premium Bonds holders from Norwich and London are celebrating this September after each winning the £1 million Premium Bonds jackpot, as one of the nation’s best-known savings products approaches its 70th anniversary in November 2026.

The first Premium Bonds £1 million winning Bond number this month is 484QT130447 and is held by someone from Norwich. They purchased the winning Bond in January 2022 and hold £50,000. They are the seventh jackpot winner from Norwich.

The second Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot Bond number is 659VC982054 and is held by someone in London. They purchased their winning Bond in January of this year and hold £45,500. They are the 25th person in London to win the £1 million jackpot.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, said: “ERNIE is bringing some autumnal joy to two Premium Bonds holders in Norwich and London who have won £1 million each this month.

Premium Bonds first went on sale almost 70 years ago. They were launched in November 1956 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Harold Macmillan. The original jackpot was £1,000 and was gradually increased to £1 million by 1994. ERNIE has since drawn 586 £1 million prizes.”

September 2026 prize draw breakdown

In the September draw, 6,529,868 tax-free prizes will be paid to Premium Bonds prize draw winners totalling £497,086,175. This month there were 137,127,223,215 £1 Bonds eligible for the draw. This brings the grand total of prizes since the first draw in June 1957 to 858 million and the value to £42.8 billion.

What are Premium Bonds?

Since they originally went on sale in November 1956, Premium Bonds have offered savers an accessible way to invest with the chance to win tax-free prizes. The first prize draw by ERNIE was held in June 1957.

Individuals can hold up to £50,000 in Premium Bonds, including those aged under 16. Premium Bonds offer the security of being backed by HM Treasury alongside the excitement of potentially winning tax-free prizes.

Newly purchased Premium Bonds need to be held for one full calendar month after purchase before being eligible for the prize draw.

Prizes are funded based upon a prize fund rate applied across the total of all eligible Premium Bonds held.

Each £1 Bond purchased is entered into a monthly prize draw, where prizes range from £25 to £1 million, making it a different and engaging way to save. The jackpot prize was increased to £1 million from the April 1994 draw. There are now two £1 million prizes each month.

Checking prizes

The Bond numbers for the two £1 million jackpot prize winners are announced on the first working day of each month, having been contacted directly by Agent Million. Bond holders can check if they have won prizes ranging from £25 to £100,000 the day after the first working day of each month by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app, visiting the NS&I website, or by asking Alexa. For September 2026, this is Wednesday 2 September.

To check prizes on the NS&I website, Bond holders will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number. For those using the Premium Bonds Prize Checker app, they can use their holder’s number, or their NS&I number.

Premium Bonds prizes notifications and unclaimed prizes

Premium Bonds prize winners will receive notifications of their winnings each month via their chosen method such as email or text if they have registered their contact details.

Over 99% of prizes have been paid to winners since the draw began in 1957, but there are instances where customers relocate or change contact or bank details and forget to update NS&I with the new details, which can lead to unclaimed prizes. Currently there are 2,851,753 unclaimed prizes worth £126,787,100 waiting to be claimed by Bond holders.

The best way to avoid prizes going unclaimed is to have them paid directly into the holder’s bank account or automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds up to the £50,000 holding limit. Prizes automatically reinvested are immediately eligible for the next draw. These payment methods now account for nine in ten prizes being paid in these ways.

Customers who think they may have an unclaimed prize (prizes over 18 months old) can check by entering their holder’s number into NS&I’s online prize checker or the prize checker app.

In Norwich, there are currently 13,756 unclaimed prizes worth £631,875. There is one £50,000 unclaimed prize in Norwich. It was won in December 2023.

In London, there are currently 485,060 unclaimed prizes worth £21,235,875. There is one £100,000 prize and nine £25,000 prizes waiting to be claimed in London.

Notes to Editors

1. The variable annual prize fund rate for the September 2026 Premium Bonds prize draw is 4.35%. The monthly odds of any £1 Bond number winning a prize are 21,000 to 1.
2. Details of previous prize fund rates and odds for Premium Bonds can be found here.
3. Spokespeople including Agent Million are available for interview, along with historical, national and regional facts and figures about Premium Bonds by contacting the Media Team (information below).
4. All Premium Bonds are free of UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax.
5. ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment). The story of ERNIE is available here.
6. NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, offering a range of savings and investments to more than 24 million customers including over 22 million Premium Bonds holders. All products offer 100% security as NS&I is backed by HM Treasury.
7. Further information on NS&I, including press releases and product information, is available on the website at nsandi.com.