Atom Bank offers two year bond at 4%

It is the first fixed bond to offer 4% in seven years.

Atom Bank increased the rate on its 2 Year Fixed Saver to 4% AER today, making it the highest paying offer on the fixed rate market.

In fact, the Government-backed National Savings and Investments (NS&I) was the last provider to offer a fixed rate of 4%. This was the NS&I Guaranteed Growth Bond, which launched this rate in May 2015 and was only available to those aged 65 years or older.

While Atom Bank’s 2 Year Fixed Saver does not have such age restrictions, it can only be opened and managed via their mobile app. All applicants need to be 18 years or older.

Atom Bank’s customers have the choice to pay away or compound their interest each month or on anniversary. The minimum deposit starts at £50 with savers allowed to invest up to £100,000.

Further additions are allowed for one week from account opening, while withdrawals are not permitted.

In comparison to other two year fixed rate bonds, Atom Bank’s latest increase means its rate is 0.27% more than Oxbury Bank’s previous market-leading account.

However, the difference is smaller on the three year fixed rate bond chart, where it beats Oxbury Bank’s Personal 3 Year Bond Account - Issue 9 by 0.18%.

The gap widens once again on the five year fixed rate bond chart  where Atom Bank’s rate is a quarter of a percent more than the joint top rate form the Bank of London and the Middle East and United Trust Bank.

All of these offers can be viewed in more detail on our fixed rate bond tables.

The last time a two year bond offered a rate of 4% was in February 2012. The offer was from Yorkshire and Clydesdale Bank, whose two-year rate was set at 4.08%.

The last time a five year bond offered a rate of 4% was seven months later, in September 2012.

As for the one year bond, the last time this type of savings was set at 4% was June 2009.

With the Bank of England base rate widely predicted to increase further today, it is likely that the top fixed rates are yet to peak.

Variable rates, meanwhile are also seeing increases according to Moneyfacts data. In particular, the easy access savings market is no exception with the top rate from Al Rayan Bank set at 2.10% AER at the time of writing.

Opting for this type of savings could provide flexibility for savers, as they can gain quick access to their cash and lock into a top fixed-rate when the time it appears that interest rates have peaked.

The best easy access rates can be viewed on our easy access savings accounts table, which is constantly updated with the latest rate changes.