Societies put squeeze on rates

CUTS in savings rates continued with the country's two largest building societies, Nationwide and Halifax, announcing reduced returns for savers yesterday.

Halifax, with 15 million savings accounts, is cutting rates from tomorrow by an average of about 0.8 points. However, there are some much larger reductions. For example, the net rate on pounds 5,000-plus in the Maxim current account comes down from 4.13 per cent to 2.63 per cent. The rate on pounds 2,000 to pounds 5,000 in Maxim is cut from 2.25 per cent to 1.5 per cent. Other Maxim rates are unchanged.

Nationwide is cutting its rates by an average of 0.8 percentage points from Monday. Leeds Building Society cut rates yesterday on Liquid Gold and Solid Gold, by up to 0.9 and 0.8 points respectively.