Chip launches Chip+1 savings account with 1.25% return

By Sunniva Kolostyak

UK savings FinTech Chip has launched Chip+1, a savings vehicle aiming to be the highest-returning account in the country, promising a variable best return of 1.25 per cent.

The account offers users the return on savings up to £5,000 – however, users can only unlock access by either inviting a plus one or by being someone else’s invitee.

Chip savers can share their VIP passcode with as many people as they want, but only the first person to sign up using the passcode will become the ‘+1’ and get access to the new account, along with the user who originally invited them.

The product has launched as a response to plummeting high-street rates, which average at 0.01 per cent on savings accounts. In order to provide the return, Chip is using its advertising budget.

Simon Rabin, Chief Executive Officer at Chip, explained: “We’re flipping the traditional approach to marketing by prioritising our users and giving a chunk of our advertising budget directly to our savers in return for recommending Chip to their friends. This allows us to grow our user base organically by attracting people who genuinely love Chip and recommend us to their friends, and we think they deserve it more than Facebook and Google do.”

Chip saw its user base double and deposits skyrocket in light of the pandemic and has been launching several features to democratise savings. Alongside Chip+1, the FinTech has launched Interest Accounts, a platform that negotiates better rates on users’ behalf, and released Save Streaks and Payday Put Away features. The latter has helped users put aside an additional £4.7 million so far.

Moreover, the company closed its biggest funding round to date this year and hit a major milestone by securing a full FCA authorisation.

“We’re building Chip to be the best place to accumulate long-term savings and build wealth, and part of that is competitive returns. We started with AI-based auto-saving in order to make putting money aside effortless and simple, and now we’re dedicated to finding ways to automatically get the best returns on the savings you already have.

“Both our Interest Accounts platform and, now, the Chip+1 account represent massive strides towards achieving that goal and also enable us to further democratise savings. We have a lot more in store for 2021, including investment accounts, and plan on bringing more ways to effortlessly grow your money with Chip.”

The account is Financial Services Compensation Scheme-eligible (FSCS) for up to £85,000. The money is deposited into Chip+1 held in a segregated trust account with ClearBank. Savers can also use the auto-saving feature in order to make tailored automatic payments directly into their new Chip+1 account.