It hasn’t been contained by the celebrity bubble, either; as the months have rolled on we’ve experienced the beginnings of Brexit, the Trump election, and, perhaps slightly less far-reaching in consequence, the inexplicable Ed Balls phenomenon on Strictly…

Under pressure

With such uncertainty coming from every angle on a global scale, things have been no less varied within the savings market. Brexit triggered a drop in the Bank of England base rate that resulted in provider rates also falling, but the market has undoubtedly been buoyed by a number of new challenger brands throughout the year that have pushed up the top end of the best-buy tables, and there are definitely positives to be found in amongst all of the alarming headlines.
 

Heroes

The real heroes of the UK savings market this year are savers. Our latest ‘MoneyTalks’ research shows people are talking about money more than they were just six months ago, and that is definitely a silver lining against all of the turbulence the market has experienced. I say this because our research also revealed that over a third of UK families believe that thinking and talking about money more often makes them better savers, with a further third also believing they are able to find better deals on their finances once they share ideas with each other.

Golden year

2016 has been full of highlights for us at RCI Bank, including celebrating our record-breaking first year and birthday in June, and welcoming our new CEO, Jean-Louis Labauge and CFO, Peter McEvoy to the team. Perhaps the crowning glory, though, has been winning awards as the best easy access, best fixed rate savings provider and best short term fixed rate savings provider at this year’s Savings Champion awards.

Changes

So, what next? We’re diving headfirst into the unknown as far as global politics are concerned, but closer to home, here’s what I think we’ll see in savings next year:

1. Personal savings – changes in the savings market will be driven by challenger banks, though the UK economic situation will likely mute some of the excitement to be had here. If there’s any way to improve this it’s by savers switching banks, so keep up with your MoneyTalk, stay on top of your savings and vote with your feet.

2. Several new challengers will launch next year – many of which are focusing on business, commercial and charity savings accounts, so this market could well be heating up in 2017.

3. Digital will continue to dominate – love ‘em or hate ‘em, we’ll get at least one more app-only bank next year and it won’t be the last. With 2016 seeing big banks cut branch networks by 11% on average, there’s a very real divestment in bricks and mortar branches, which means greater investment in online personalisation, experience and service. Next year we already have four customer-facing system upgrades planned… exciting! 

Although we won’t know the full impact of the big events of 2016 for some time, it’s an exciting prospect to have so much possibility laid out ahead. Besides anything else, we challenger banks are good at change… lucky that, as 2017 is going to be far from dull.

Kelvin Godhard is Head of Savings at RCI Bank, you can read more about the management team here.