Spotlight On: N&P one-year E-bond

The deal

Norwich & Peterborough building society is raising the rate on its one-year E-bond by 0.35 per cent to 3.55 per cent from Monday.

The good points

It's a market-leading one-year rate at the moment. It can be easily opened online with from £1,000.

The bad points

You can make no withdrawals (or further contributions) for 12 months once you have made your initial deposit. Money can't be transfered from an existing Norwich & Peterborough account, which appears to penalise customers of the building society.

Conclusion

Even though the Bank of England's base rate was kept on hold again this month, savings deals seem to be gradually improving. If you are happy to lock your cash away for a year, this doesn't seem too bad, but with competition hotting up among savings institutions, I wouldn't rule out there being a new market-leading rate any day. If you are happy to lock your cash away for a longer period, there are better deals available.