Martin Lewis says Nationwide and Lloyds could be handed free £661

Martin Lewis says Nationwide and Lloyds can come forward for a free £661 - if they are savvy with their cash. Savers can cash in on interest from Nationwide, the UK's biggest building society, as well as Lloyds, First Direct and the Co-op.

First Direct allows customers to save £300 a month for £137 interest after a year with its one-year fix at seven per cent, while Co-op offers the same rate, and Nationwide offers 6.5 per cent, while Lloyds has 6.25 per cent.

The Co-op pays out £114 interest over 12 months if you max it out, while Nationwide pays £85 and Lloyds £150, depending on their maximum contribution rules. “This is where you get the highest interest possible, these regular savings accounts up to 7 per cent. But it is on smaller amounts, but you could use two or three of them to combine and then you could be putting £600 or £700 quid away each month," BBC star and ITV regular Mr Lewis, the Money Saving Expert founder, said.

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As well as the £486 interest you can accrue, the banks also offer switch bonus of us £175 - taking you to over £660. Mr Lewis said: “They’re designed to put spare income each month in if you have it. If you’re lucky enough to have two or three hundred quid each month spare, you put them in here."

He went on, adding: "The top four interestingly are all with banks paying to switch your current account and you need a current account to link to, and these are paying up to £175 to switch so you might want to have a look at that as well.

“The one that pays more has the lowest rate of the four. Why does it pay more? Because you can put up to £400 in it so that gives you £150 worth of interest.” Martin shared the top easy access accounts currently on offer, too.

Mr Lewis says Santander - Edge Saver, 6%, Coventry Building Society - 4.83% and Co-op Bank - 4.59% are leading the market, as well as Halifax - 3.9%. The top cash ISAs are Trading 212, 5.17% and Moneybox, 5.17%. The top normal saver is currently Chip, 5%, Mr Lewis said

You can watch The Martin Lewis Money Show Live on ITV player.