There’s cash to be made if you act before the bank takes an extra bite out of your savings.

IF you’re a saver, I want to show you how to urgently accelerate your interest. The big warning is for anyone with fixed-rate savings. More than half a million are due to end this month, and when that happens banks tend to shift your cash into holding accounts paying dismal rates as low as 0%.

The irony here is that many go into fixed rates for long-term stability, and if you did that a few years ago you could still have been earning well over six per cent. Yet savings providers aren’t stupid. They try to get another bite at your cash when the deal ends, hoping to profit from apathy – leaving you in rate shock.

It’s a clever business model. They sell people a high fixed-rate account, knowing that when it ends they can pay them next to nothing for months.

So if your fixed rate’s ending or you’re simply trying to work out what to do with your cash, sit up and take note.

Six things every saver should know

SETTLE debts before savings. The best use of savings is to pay off expensive debts. Think of it this way, £1,000 in the best paying savings account would earn you about £20 a year after tax, yet owe a high street credit card the same amount and you’d pay £180 a year. Thus, pay off the debts with the savings and you’re £160 per £1,000 better off.

Should you repay your mortgage too?

THIS is worthwhile for many savers – on a purely mathematical basis. If your mortgage rate is higher than the after-tax rate you can earn on savings then you’ll earn more repaying the mortgage than saving.

Check you are allowed to overpay your mortgage without penalties, and, remember, once the cash is in the mortgage you can’t borrow it back (unless your mortgage is flexible). So do put three to six months worth of cash aside in an emergency fund first.

■ For a step-by-step guide to this, see moneysavingexpert.com/repaymortgage

Start with a cash ISA

A CASH ISA is a tax-free savings account into which every adult can now put up to £5,100 each year. If you’ve not opened one since April 6, it’s the first place to put your cash. The current top payer is Cheltenham & Gloucester’s cash ISA, paying 2.7 per cent easy access, though it includes a bonus of 1.7 per cent for the first year.

■ For best-buys, see moneysavingexpert.com/cashISAs,P> Can you put money aside every month?

MUCH higher rates, sometimes up to five per cent, are available in special regular savings accounts. Yet you can only put in between £10 and £500 every month. The problem is there’s a limit on the cash you can save and they are only short term, usually lasting a year. After that, they dump your money into a poor-paying account, so you’ll need move it.

■ See moneysavingexpert.com/regularsavings for the latest best buys.

Are you part of a couple?

IF you are, and one of you pays a lower rate of tax, put the savings in their name and you’ll earn more.

There are no issues doing this between spouses, but if you’re not married and you die within a few years, there could be an inheritance tax issue. Of course, there’s also the issue of “trust” too.

How safe are your savings?

THE final thing to remember is that if you put money in a fully UK-regulated bank account you are protected up to £50,000 per person per financial institution.

However, some banks that are part of the same group, such as Halifax and Bank of Scotland, count as one institution, so the £50,000 is combined.

Others that are part of the same group, such as RBS and NatWest count as separate institutions.

The only other exception is that some EU banks operating in the UK are allowed to rely on their home country’s protection scheme. That means while Punjab National Bank’s UK savings have full UK protection, put money into Post Office branded savings and it’s actually run by the Bank of Ireland. Its protection relies on the Irish government.

■ See how banks are linked are at moneysavingexpert.com/safesavings

The top savings deals

If you’re looking to put money away right now these are the best deals:

Top Easy Access – the AA offers 2.8 per cent AER easy access with only £1 needed to open it. Yet this amount includes an intro rate boost of 2.3 per cent bonus for a year, so make a note of that time and ditch and switch then to keep the rate high.

I used to warn people to avoid bonuses, but with rates so low at least a 2.3 per cent bonus guarantees the interest rate can’t drop below that for a year.

The top account without a bonus is currently Halifax Web Saver Extra, which pays 2.6 per cent, though the rate is variable and can be changed. Also, it only allows one penalty-free withdrawal a year. If you already have a Halifax current account, the rate is boosted to 2.8 per cent.

Top fixed-rate accounts – If you want to lock your money away, you can earn more on the top fixed-rate paying accounts. The top fixed rate online is Bank of Baroda’s Max account, if you have a minimum of £500, although to get this you must go via comparison site Moneysupermarket.

The rates are 3.15 per cent AER for a one-year fix, 3.8 per cent for two years and 4.3 per cent for three.

For shorter fixes you can earn slightly more via a postal account from the Punjab National Bank with 3.25 per cent AER for a year and four per cent for two years. Both these accounts are fully UK-regulated, meaning you get the full £50,000 per person protection.

Top tips

£2 credit reports – for the first time, these are available online from all three credit reference agencies. You have a statutory right to check your file for £2, but in the past it was only by post. After a push from the last government, all agencies offer it online too. Equifax and CallCredit give instant reports, while Experian send it after a few days.

■ Full guide at moneysavingexpert.com/creditcheck

£18 hotel sale – budget chain Etap (part of Accor) has 9,000 rooms available at £18, including Manchester and Leicester, until September 6.

■ TV money guru Martin Lewis runs the consumer revenge website MoneySavingExpert.com. Ensure you get his weekly email so you’re constantly saving money.