Santander Bank’s UK arm has added a new free online feature - savings and investments calculator. The feature is added on its website to help customers compare the potential returns on their money in both cash savings and investments.
This calculator allows users to select an amount of money that they want to save and they can also select the time frame particularly on how long they want to save that money.
The calculator then displays a graphic showing the difference between the potential returns of cash savings and investments
The calculator asks users how much money users want to put aside, and how long for, to create a graphic showing the difference in potential returns between cash savings and investments.
The investments should be held for the medium-long term (5+ years) to give your money the best possible chance of growing. It’s a good idea to have other savings in place so if the market does fall, you won’t have to dip into your investments to cover an unexpected expense and can instead leave them to recover.
This calculator is based on Santander’s EISA if you’re a 1|2|3 World or Santander Select customer.
Once you put in the amount you want to save, Santander then adds interest based on how long you’d like it to stay in the account. They utilize the current interest rate to give you an idea. Interest will be paid tax-free. The tax-free rate is the rate of interest payable where interest is exempt from income tax.
The calculator highlights what is a long-term commitment and the money that people are investing can go down as well as up. However, the cash savings will offer a more definite and stable return. With the information offered, consumers are able to explore options in which they want to invest.
A research carried out by Santander showed that more than a quarter of people want to improve their financial know-how because of the pandemic. The Bank of England said during the lockdown consumer deposits continue to increase, and people consider putting their money into an individual savings account (ISA).
The bank also saw more women less than 35 years of age signed up to its investment channels in 2020 compared with any other demographic.
The research conducted by Santander showed that only one out of 10 people believe that investing is just for experts in finance. Others consider investing is for people who know which stocks and shares will earn them profits.
Alexia Kilby, head of savings and investments at Santander UK, said, “With the new tax year approaching and the change we’ve seen in consumer savings as a result of the pandemic, people who are looking to put money aside will be thinking about how they can make their money, and their tax-free allowance work harder for them. Our innovative savings and investments calculator will help people be more informed about their options, improve their understanding of investments, and help them decide the right step for them”.
Recently, Santander UK also announced the appointment of Graham Calder as an interim chief information officer and Daryl Brookes as director of IT operations and service delivery.
Calder will lead the delivery and development of Santander UK’s technology strategy and IT transformation plan. Brookes will be reporting to Calder and focus on delivering industry-leading levels of IT service provision and performance all across the bank.