Oxbury's 5.01% saver: the bonus maths to 24 December

Last reviewed: 10 July 2026

What Oxbury launched, and how quickly it went

Oxbury Bank, the agriculture focused challenger, took the top of the UK easy access savings table on 24 June 2026 with the Easy Access Bonus Rate Summer Saver 1, paying 4.90% gross, 5.01% AER, with interest paid monthly. The account requires a £1,000 minimum balance to earn interest, pays interest on balances up to £120,000, permits unlimited withdrawals with same day processing before 1pm on working days, and is restricted to new Oxbury savings customers. The launch is equally notable for its exit: within days, Oxbury's published interest rate summary was marking the account off sale. A table topping rate that attracts deposits faster than the bank wants to fund them gets withdrawn, and Oxbury's own terms state that accounts can be withdrawn from sale at any time and without notice. Savers who opened in the launch window keep the account; the record here is of a product that led the market for roughly a week.

The arithmetic the headline does not show

The 5.01% figure includes a bonus of 1.45% gross, 1.50% AER, and the bonus runs to a fixed calendar date, 24 December 2026, not for a period from account opening. From 25 December the account pays its underlying variable rate of 3.51% AER. The worked example on a £10,000 balance opened at launch: roughly six months at 5.01% produces about £250 of interest, and the following six months at 3.51% produce about £175, a blended year of about £425, equivalent to roughly 4.26% rather than 5.01%. The fixed end date matters more than it looks: a saver opening in late July rather than late June gets a month less of the bonus, so the blended return falls with every week of delay. The underlying 3.51% is the number that decides whether the account is a twelve month home or a visit that ends on Christmas Eve, and several launch window reviewers stated plainly that they intend to move the money out on 24 December.

How the structure compares across the table

Bonus construction now dominates the top of the easy access market. Revolut pays 5.00% AER on its Instant Access Savings for new customers, including a 2.02% bonus running to 4 December 2026 on balances up to £25,000, with balances above that earning 2.90%. Chase pays 4.50% including a 2.23% boost for 12 months for new current account customers. Yorkshire Building Society's relaunched Easy Access Saver takes the opposite approach: 3.65% with no bonus element and a monthly interest option, a lower headline that is the same number in month twelve as in month one. The comparison across these accounts is therefore not a single column of rates but two: the rate today and the rate after the bonus expires, and the ranking changes depending on which column is read.

Rates as published by providers, July 2026. Underlying post bonus rates are listed in each account's summary box and are variable.

Why challengers price this way

Bonus structures let a bank buy the top of the rate tables for a defined cost and a defined period. The comparison sites sort by headline AER, the headline includes the bonus, and the account acquires deposits at scale while the bonus runs. The model relies on saver inertia after the bonus expires: industry data has long shown that most easy access balances do not move when rates step down, which is why the Financial Conduct Authority has considered requiring providers to move savers to a single rate after 12 months. None of that makes the launch rate less real. It defines what the product is: a genuinely market leading six months, followed by a rate that has not yet been tested against the market it will compete in.

What the launch window looked like

Three numbers in the summary box settled the decision for launch window savers. The underlying rate of 3.51% after 24 December, which sets the second half of the year. The £1,000 minimum, below which the balance earns nothing. And the interest ceiling at £120,000, which aligns with the FSCS protection limit. The account's position at the top of the table is a fact of late June 2026; its withdrawal from sale within days is the second fact, and together they describe how the top of the easy access market now works: short windows, fixed date bonuses, and a reversion rate that has not yet been tested against the market it will compete in from Christmas.

Frequently asked questions

What rate does the Oxbury Summer Saver pay?

4.90% gross, 5.01% AER, paid monthly, the highest easy access rate on the UK market at its 24 June 2026 launch. The figure includes a 1.45% gross, 1.50% AER bonus.

When does the Oxbury bonus rate end?

On 24 December 2026, a fixed calendar date rather than a period from opening. From 25 December the account pays its underlying variable rate of 3.51% AER.

Is money in the account protected?

Yes. Oxbury is a UK authorised bank and eligible deposits are covered by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person. Interest is paid on balances up to the same £120,000 figure.

Is the Oxbury Summer Saver still available?

Oxbury's published interest rate summary marks the account off sale within days of launch, and its terms allow withdrawal from sale at any time without notice. Savers who opened during the window keep the account and its terms.

Why do banks use fixed date bonus rates?

A bonus buys the top of comparison tables for a defined cost and period. A fixed end date, rather than a rolling six months, also means later openers earn the headline rate for less time, which caps the bank's total bonus cost.