Help to make the most of savings

The Yorkshire Building Society branch in King’s Lynn is opening its doors on Saturday, September 14, to help people make the most of UK Savings Week – an annual campaign which focuses on the benefits of savings.The New Conduit Street branch will be opening from 9am to noon for existing members and new customers looking to open a new account or reviewing their existing savings. The team will be on-hand to provide information on savings, open accounts and provide hints and tips.The mutual is opening all of its branches to ensure would-be savers maximise the opportunity to speak to teams and to give customers a choice of how to open an account – online, in-app or in person and so they can find out about their options and learn more about UK Savings Week.Yorkshire Building Society has also signed up to the Savings Charter from the Money and Pensions service. This is a set of commitments to help raise the profile of savings in the UK. By signing the charter, organisations demonstrate that they are committed to help people to save, as part of an industry-wide initiative to build a Nation of Savers.A recent study launched by Yorkshire Building Society showed younger people may be missing out on the benefits of saving because they are not confident in their knowledge of financial products, or are reluctant to establish savings habits. Research from the mutual’s Saving Generation Z report showed that when asked, less than half of 16-27 year-olds said they would feel confident in selecting the best savings account for their current goals and were less confident of any generation in their ability to save effectively.An analysis of ONS data from the same report, showed that around 1.2 million 16-27 year olds don’t save, because they choose not to, rather than because they are not in a position to do so. Chris Irwin director of savings at Yorkshire Building Society said: “UK Savings Week is an important event in the calendar, to help people establish new savings habits, or make sure their savings are working hard for them.“We know accessing help and support from our branch teams is important for our customers, so by opening our branches on Saturday 14 September we hope many would-be savers who might need a helping hand starting their savings journeys will be able to take advantage.“Helping people to save is a key part of our purpose at Yorkshire Building Society, offering customers a choice of access is vitally important. Making UK Savings Week accessible for our customers in a way that best suits them, be that in one of our branches, online or via our app, supports our aim to continue to provide real help to our customers and members.”