Premium Bonds
1.00% annual prize fund rate
Invest from £25 to £50,000
Direct Saver
0.15%
Invest from £1 to £2 million
Junior ISA
1.50%
Invest from £1 to £9,000 tax year 2021/22
Investment Account
A simple, easy-access savings account you can manage by post.
Essentials at a glance
- What's the interest rate?
- 0.01% gross/AER
- Can you take money out?
- Yes: no notice and no penalty
- Will you pay tax?
- Yes: tax on your gross interest
- What's the min. to pay in?
- £20
- What's the max. to pay in?
- £1 million per person
Great for you if …
- You want a straightforward savings account by post
- You want easy access to your money
- You want a savings account for a child or grandchild
Maybe not for you if …
- You want a fixed interest rate
- You want a regular income from your savings
- You want to use your account online and by phone
- You prefer to use your account in-branch
Investment Account FAQs
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You can only use your Investment Account by post.
When you make a cheque deposit or withdrawal, we’ll send you a record of your transaction. We’ll also send you a statement every January showing you all your transactions, plus your interest.
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Only a parent, guardian, grandparent or great-grandparent can open an account and make deposits for a child.
Until the child’s 16th birthday, the parent or guardian nominated on the application looks after the account and we’ll send all correspondence to them.
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The minimum you can withdraw is £1 and at least £1 must remain in your account to keep it open.
You can withdraw money from your Investment Account using an online form, without having to send us any post.
Withdraw from my Investment AccountYou’ll need your NS&I or account number to hand, as well as your bank account details.
Or complete a withdrawal form and send it to us.
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The interest you earn on most savings will count towards your taxable income. But this doesn’t mean you’ll have to pay tax on it. It all depends how much interest you earn in total and what rate of tax you pay. You can find out more in our Help section.
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We’ll ask you as part of your application if you’d like to save with someone else. You’ll each get your own login details so you can manage your account.
Apply for Investment Account
You can only apply by post.
Summary Box
- Account name
-
Investment Account
- What's the interest rate?
-
0.01% gross/AER
We calculate the interest daily and add it to your account once a year on 1 January.
- Can NS&I change the interest rate?
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Yes – the rate is variable so we can change it up or down from time to time, for example when the Bank of England base rate changes or when rates in the general savings market change. See the customer agreement (terms and conditions) for more details.
We’ll give advance notice of any rate changes by publishing adverts in a range of newspapers and by updating our website. When the rate is going down, we’ll also contact you personally in advance to let you know.
What would the estimated balance be after 12 months based on a £1,000 deposit?
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A £1,000 deposit would be worth £1,000.10 after 12 months, if the interest rate stayed at 0.01% gross/AER (the rate from 24 November 2020) during the 12 months.
This is an illustration only, so it doesn’t take into account your individual circumstances. It assumes that you don’t make any withdrawals or additional deposits during the year.
- How do I open and manage my account?
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Our Investment Account is for customers aged 16 or over. You can open an account in your own name or jointly with one other person. An account can also be opened for a child under 16 by their parent, guardian, grandparent. You can also invest in trust for someone else.
You can:
- Apply for, and manage, an Investment Account by post only
- Open an account with at least £20, paid by personal cheque drawn on a UK bank account in your name
- Hold up to a total of £1 million per person in Investment Accounts
If you want to switch to Income Bonds from another NS&I account, simply:
- Can you take money out?
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Yes, you can take out money by post with no notice or penalty. You just need to keep a balance of at least £1 to keep your account open.
- Additional information
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We pay your interest without deducting any tax. However, the interest is taxable so it will count towards your Personal Savings Allowance.
Find out more about tax and savings
We’ll send you a statement in January each year, showing all your transactions and interest.
- Some definitions explained
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Gross is the taxable rate of interest without the deduction of UK Income Tax.
AER (Annual Equivalent Rate) illustrates what the annual rate of interest would be if the interest was compounded each time it was paid. Where interest is paid annually, the quoted rate and the AER are the same.
Please make sure you’ve read our summary box and the customer agreement before applying.
Customer agreement (last updated on 24 April 2019)
Then print and complete the application form:
Print and complete this form if you’re over 16 and applying for yourself
Print and complete this form if you’re a parent or grandparent applying for a child under 16
We'll need to check the identity and address of everyone nominated on the application, including the child. To do this, we may ask you to send us some documents.
Top up your Investment Account
If you already have an account with us, you can top it up whenever you like.
When you pay by bank transfer, you're confirming your bank account is a UK account in your name.
Just give the following details to your bank:
- Top up by bank transfer
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- Reference:
- You must enter your Investment Account number (not your NS&I number) as the reference. You can find your account number on your statement or by logging in online.
- Payee name:
- NS&I
- Account number:
- 11994808
- Sort code:
- 08 31 30
Please make sure you've set up your account before transferring money via your bank.
When you set up your payment, you may receive a message saying 'This account can't be checked' or something similar. This doesn't mean the details you are using are wrong but please check them carefully.
When you make a bank transfer, the money takes 2 to 3 banking days to reach your account.
For more information on topping up by bank transfer see our FAQs
- Top up by post
It's simple: first, download our postal form.
- Make sure your form is completed in full, signed and dated (if anything is missing we will return the form to you).
- Return your completed form and cheque(s) to: Investment Account Sales, Glasgow, G58 1SB.
- Make the cheque payable to ‘National Savings and Investments’ and write the NS&I Investment Account number and account holder’s name(s) on the back. We can also accept cheques made payable to the account holder. The cheque must be drawn on a UK bank account.
Ready to apply?
Be sure to check our FAQs first, then we'll show you the Investment Account summary box and customer agreement before you apply.
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