MILLIONS of people are being urged to take a simple step in January to earn them £1,000 for FREE ahead of next Christmas.
Yorkshire Building Society warned savers are “missing out” on free money by keeping large chunks of cash in current accounts.
It said there are more than 12million current accounts open which are earning 1% interest or less while holding balances of more than £5,0001.
The average amount in these accounts is £23,700.
If they had transferred the funds into accounts with higher interest rates, savers could have made close to £1,000 in additional income this year – without paying any extra in.
That would more than cover the cost of Christmas for most families.
Yorkshire Building Society said more than 13,000 savers who opened its Christmas Regular Saver in January would now be able to cover the festive season easily.
The account, which matured at the end of October, let customers deposit between £1 and £150 per month.
The average balance for each saver by the time their account matured was £1,070.
Brits are planning to spend an average of £596 per household this Christmas, according to research by the building society.
Nearly 25% of people said they would need to rely on credit to fund their festive celebrations this year, with a quarter of this group saying they expected to be paying off the cost for an entire year.
If you pay into a regular saver over the year – or move savings you already have into a higher interest account – you could avoid relying on credit.
