Two lucky premium bond holders have become millionaires after winning the jackpot in the National Savings & Investments (NS&I) July draw.
The £1m winners are from Hertfordshire and Cumbria. Meanwhile, 87 other winners bagged the next-best prize of £100,000.
Here, Which? reveals the winning premium bond numbers and explains why now might be a good time to think about opening a savings account too.
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July 2024 premium bond winners
We at Which? are sent the details of the premium bond jackpot winners and prize draw data the day before full results are made available to all premium bond holders via the app and online.
This means we can reveal that the first winning bond (286HQ028274) was bought by a lucky winner living in Hertfordshire, and is part of a total holding of £50,000. The winning bond was bought in November 2016.
The second winner, from Cumbria, bought their bond (474HX772350) in October 2021. They too have a total holding of £50,000.
- Find out more:should I get premium bonds?
How many winners were drawn in July?
There were 5,927,312 prizes given out in the July prize draw, worth a total of £456,402,800. Of these, 5,851,056 were worth £100 or less.
| Value of prize | Number of prizes |
|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 87 |
| £50,000 | 175 |
| £25,000 | 349 |
| £10,000 | 874 |
| £5,000 | 1,745 |
| £1,000 | 18,256 |
Source: NS&I
Should you open a savings account instead?
For some, the chance to become a millionaire is incentive enough to buy premium bonds, but the odds of winning any prize are tiny at just 21,000 to 1.
Unlike premium bonds, savings and Isa accounts offer guaranteed interest on your deposits – and now is a great time to open one.
Rates are high, with Moneyfacts data showing average interest for all types of account on 1 July 2024 is more than the current 2% rate of inflation. That's important, because if interest is lower than the pace at which prices are rising, your nest egg is effectively losing value over time.
This table shows the top rates for fixed-term and instant-access cash Isas and savings accounts, ordered by term.
| Account type | Account | AER | Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Five-year fixed-term savings account | UBL UK 5 Year Fixed Term Deposit | 4.52% | £2,000 minimum deposit |
| Five-year fixed-term cash Isa | Principality Building Society 5 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA | 4.25% | £500 minimum deposit |
| Four-year fixed-term savings account | Vanquis Bank Savings | 4.6% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Four-year fixed-term cash Isa | United Trust Bank Cash ISA 4 Year Bond | 4.1% | £5,000 minimum deposit |
| Three-year fixed-term savings account | Cynergy Bank Fixed Rate Bond | 4.81% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Three-year fixed-term cash Isa | Principality Building Society 3 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA | 4.6% | £500 minimum deposit |
| Two-year fixed-term savings account | Cynergy Bank Fixed Rate Bond | 5.06% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
Source: Moneyfacts. Correct as of 1 July 2024 but rates are subject to change. *Raisin exclusive deals are exclusively available through Raisin UK, which is a savings platform. Raisin offers savings accounts from a range of smaller or lesser-known banks and building societies. You'll deposit your money and manage your account through Raisin, rather than dealing directly with the provider. Deposits with all providers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), with the exception of deposits with AgriBank and HoistSavings, which are protected by the Maltese and Swedish deposit protection schemes respectively. You can find out more about Raisin in our guide to savings platforms.
All the top deals offer interest rates of more than double the rate of inflation. But if you have a large lump sum to invest and you don't need access to your cash in a hurry, you might want to consider locking your money away in a fixed-term account.
That's because the rates available right now may not hang around for long. Many analysts expect the Bank of England to start cutting the base rate in August or September. When it does fall, providers are likely to start dropping savings rates in response.
Fixing will guarantee you the same interest for the period of the bond, whereas providers can adjust interest on a variable rate account – such as an instant access – whenever they like.
- Find out more:best savings accounts 2024
What about NS&I savings?
NS&I does offer a range of savings and Isa accounts. However, their top rates are lower than those offered by competitors:
| NS&I product | AER |
|---|---|
| Green Savings Bond, three-year fixed | 2.95% |
| Direct Saver, instant-access | 4% |
| Income Bonds, instant-access | 4% |
| Guaranteed Income Bonds (British Savings Bonds), one-year/three-year fixed | 4.5%/4.15% |
| Guaranteed Growth Bonds (British Savings Bonds), one-year/three-year fixed | 4.5%/4.15% |
| Direct Isa, instant access | 3% |
Source: NS&I. Correct as of 1 July 2024, but rates are subject to change.
While rates are lower than elsewhere, one of the main advantages of NS&I is that funds are backed by HM Treasury, so your money has 100% security.
With other banks and building societies you’re covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), but only up to £85,000 per person, per institution (meaning some brands share protection).
With NS&I you’re fully protected up to the maximum deposit limit on the account – for the Direct Saver that’s up to £2m.
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