Ethical Edges It: Gatehouse Bank announces table-topping savings rate
- UK challenger bank, Gatehouse Bank, refreshes its savings rates and tops the table with its best-buy 60 Day Notice account
- New rates on FSCS-protected accounts demonstrate growing challenge being mounted by banks that are ethical by intention - because they are Shariah-compliant
UK challenger bank, Gatehouse Bank, has increased the returns on the majority of its ethical Milestone Savings accounts, with its 60 Day Notice account offering customers a table-topping 1.15%.
As a Shariah-compliant UK bank, Gatehouse Bank’s savings products are ethical by intention and pay an alternative to interest called the Expected Profit Rate (EPR).
The new Fixed Term Deposit and Notice accounts, along with their revised EPRs, are listed below. As of 26th February 2018, the 60 Day Notice account is the highest such rate on the market, while the 31 Day Notice account is joint first.
- 1 Year Fixed Term Deposit: 1.82% AER
- 2 Year Fixed Term Deposit: 2.05% AER
- 3 Year Fixed Term Deposit: 2.21% AER
- 5 Year Fixed Term Deposit: 2.45% AER
- 31 Day Notice: 1.05% AER
- 60 Day Notice: 1.15% AER
- 120 Day Notice: 1.53% AER
Gatehouse Bank’s Milestone Savings Fixed Term Deposit and Notice Accounts are available to all UK savers with a minimum initial deposit of £1,000. All are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS).
The accounts’ returns are generated by the bank’s profit-generating Shariah-compliant assets, making them popular not just with Muslim savers but all UK savers seeking ‘responsible’, market-leading returns.
As an ethical institution, Gatehouse Bank won’t get involved in or support gambling, alcohol, tobacco or arms companies. Examples of eligible activities include financing or investing in construction projects, property and sukuk (Islamic bonds).
Whatever the activity, some of the profit the bank earns from these activities is returned to customers, allowing them to grow their savings without earning interest.
Charles Haresnape, CEO, Gatehouse Bank, commented:
“These latest rates show that ethical savings can be not just market-leading but, in the case of our 60 Day Notice account, table-topping.
“As a Shariah-compliant UK bank, we are ethical by default. This means that all savers can be reassured that their money will never be invested in companies in, say, the gambling, alcohol, tobacco and arms sectors.
“Our goal is to offer an alternative to all UK savers for whom returns are not just market-leading but ethical to boot.”