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Press release

NS&I CHANGES ITS PREMIUM BONDS PRIZE STRUCTURE AND VARIABLE RATES ON SAVINGS PRODUCTS

18 March 2009

 

 
NS&I today announced that from the April prize draw onwards one of the two monthly Premium Bond jackpot prizes of £1 million will be replaced by a wider mix of prizes in the monthly draws, allowing more people to win but still retaining the chance of winning the £1 million jackpot prize.  Similarly, a new £25 Premium Bond prize will be introduced and used alongside the existing prizes (ranging from £50 to £1 million). These changes have been introduced because Premium Bond holders say that maintaining the chances of winning tax-free prizes on a regular basis is particularly important to them.

In addition to these changes, NS&I is reducing the Premium Bond prize fund rate from 1.8% to 1%. This rate will be held for at least the April, May and June 2009 draws even if there are further changes to the base rate.  This is the first change NS&I has made to the prize fund rate since the last reduction implemented on 1 December last year – since then the Bank of England base rate has fallen from 3.0% to 0.5%. The revised prize fund rate will come into effect from 1 April 2009.

The current odds of each £1 Premium Bond number winning any prize will remain unchanged at 36,000 to 1, so with average luck an investor with £30,000 in Premium Bonds could win 10 tax-free prizes a year.

NS&I is also reducing the interest rates on its other variable rate savings by up to 0.50%, following movements in the Bank of England base rate.  The revised interest rates will come into effect from 18 March 2009 – see table below.

Peter Cornish, Director of Customer Offer, NS&I, said: “Premium Bonds are unique and are hugely popular with our customers.  Replacing one of the £1 million jackpot prizes with a wider mix of prizes and introducing the new £25 prize category will help us maintain the frequency of tax-free prizes – something that we know is particularly important to Premium Bond holders.

“We always aim to reward as many of our customers as possible from the prize fund available, together with having the right mix of prizes.  We continue to pay out hundreds of thousands of tax-free prizes each month and customers also benefit from a 100% guarantee on their investment because we are backed by HM Treasury. 

As always, NS&I will communicate all of these changes to customers via a range of outlets, including press advertisements and NS&I’s website, as well as putting an updated Premium Bonds prize draw details leaflets in all Post Offices and updated interest rates leaflets in most branches of WH Smith throughout the UK. 

ENDS

Notes to editors

When interest rates are set on tax-free products, NS&I takes into account the amount of tax the Exchequer would have received if the product had been taxable.

Tax-free1 variable rates		Rate p.a. (change in brackets)		AER3
Premium Bonds  (new rates effective from 1 April 2009)		1% (-0.80%)
Cash  ISA (new rate effective from 18 March  2009)		0.50% (-0.40%)		0.50%
Direct ISA (new rate effective from 18 March 2009)		1.30% (-0.50%)		1.30%

 

Taxable variable rates (gross rates2)		Rate p.a. (change in brackets)		AER3
Income Bonds  (new rates effective from 18 March 2009) £25,000+ £500 - £24,999		1.00% (-0.45%) 0.70% (-0.50%)		1.00% 0.70%
Investment Account  (new rates effective from 18 March 2009) £50,000+ £25,000+ £10,000+ £1 - £9,999		0.30% (-0.20%) 0.30% (-0.10%) 0.20% (-0.20%) 0.20% (-0.10%)		0.30% 0.30% 0.20% 0.20%

 

Premium Bond prize fund details	MARCH 2009	APRIL 2009 (estimate)
Odds of winning a prize	36,000 to 1	36,000 to 1
Total value of prizes	£58,985,137	£32,251,950
Total number of prizes	1,092,317	1,075,065
Prize fund rate	1.80%	1%
Higher value prizes (£5,000 +)	4% of prize fund	6% of prize fund
Medium value (£500 +)	1% of prize fund	5% of prize fund
Lower value (£50 +)	95% of prize fund	89% of prize fund

 

1. Tax-free means that interest and prizes are exempt of from UK Income Tax and Capital Gains Tax

2. Gross means the taxable rate of interest without deduction of UK Income Tax.

3. AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and enables the comparison of interest rates from different financial institutions and across different products on a like-for-like basis. It shows what the notional annual rate would be if interest was compounded each time it was credited or paid out. Where interest is credited once a year the rate quoted and the AER will be the same

Media team
NS&I has a number of spokespeople available for interviews and our experienced radio team is available via our ISDN line: 020 7602 4522.

The numbers below are for media use only. Customers wishing to contact NS&I can find details here.

Gareth Headon		020 7348 9494
		gareth.headon@nsandi.com
Gill Stephens		020 7348 9449
		gill.stephens@nsandi.com
Iman Asante		020 7348 9301
		iman.asante@nsandi.com
Monica Del-Villar		020 7348 9654
		monica.del-villar@nsandi.com
ISDN for interviews		020 7602 4522
Out of hours		All numbers above diverted to staffed mobile phones

 

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