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Premium bond winners for March – is it time to open a cash Isa instead?
NS&I has boosted the rate on its Direct Isa. Find out how it compares to the competition
Two lucky premium bond holders have each won £1m in March's National Savings & Investments (NS&I) prize draw.
The jackpot winners are from North Yorkshire and Cumbria, while 83 other winners were picked for the next-best prize of £100,000.
The number of high-value prizes is dropping from next month, but there is some good news for NS&I customers, with the provider having raised the interest rate on its Direct Isa. However, with other providers also boosting rates in the run-up to the new tax year, could you get a better deal elsewhere?
Read on to find out this month's winning premium bond numbers and compare the best Isa rates currently available.
March premium bond winners
The first winning bond (540HZ735699) was bought by a lucky winner living in Cleveland, North Yorkshire, and is part of a total holding of just £100. The winning bond was bought in May 2023.
The second winner, from Cumbria, bought their bond (408VD714629) in August 2020. They have a total holding of £35,000.
- Find out more: should I get premium bonds?
How many winners were drawn in March?
There were 5,902,600 premium bond prizes paid out in the March draw. Of these, 5,830,287 were worth £100 or less.
In total, this month's prizes were worth £432,857,175.
| Value of prize | Number of prizes |
|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 83 |
| £50,000 | 164 |
| £25,000 | 331 |
| £10,000 | 825 |
| £5,000 | 1,652 |
| £1,000 | 17,314 |
Source: NS&I
Should you open an Isa 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 1 in 22,000.
The number of high-value prizes worth between £5,000 and £100,000 is also dropping from April. That's thanks to NS&I cutting the prize fund rate for the second time this year, from 4% to 3.8%.
Isas, on the other hand, offer guaranteed returns on your deposits – and now is a great time to open one. Many providers are currently boosting rates in the run up to the new tax year.
NS&I has increased the interest paid on its own instant-access Direct Isa from 3% to 3.5% AER, but while the rate is above March's average of 3.02% AER, it still lags behind the market leaders.
This table shows the best instant-access Isa accounts, ordered by rate and excluding those that impose restrictions on opening and withdrawals.
| Account | AER | Terms |
|---|---|---|
| Chip Cash Isa | 5.25% | £1 minimum deposit |
| Monument Bank Easy Access Cash Isa | 4.76% | £10,000 minimum deposit |
| Kent Reliance Cash Isa | 4.56% | £1,000 minimum deposit |
| Charter Savings Bank Easy Access Cash Isa | 4.55% | £1 minimum deposit |
| Family Building Society Market Tracker Cash Isa | 4.55% | £500 minimum investment |
Source: Moneyfacts. Correct as of 3 March 2025, but rates are subject to change.
All of the top rates come from smaller challenger banks, but don't be nervous about investing your money in a provider you've never heard of.
All of the cash Isa accounts listed in the table are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This protects up to £85,000 of a saver's pot if a bank goes bust.
- Find out more: best cash Isas 2024
Is it better to fix for longer?
Instant-access Isas currently offer better returns, but these accounts have variable rates. This means providers can cut the interest offered on these deals whenever they like, so your money might not grow at that pace for long.
Locking your money away in a fixed Isa guarantees you the same rate for a set time period, regardless of what's going on in the rest of the market. Terms usually range from one to five years.
Close Brothers Savings currently offers the best rates for fixed-term cash Isas lasting one, two, three, and five years. The bank's top rate is 4.45% AER for a one-year account. The best rate on a four-year cash Isa is 4.05%, offered by UBL UK.
Again, all of the top fixed cash Isa rates are significantly higher than NS&I's deal. But if you've got savings you won't need for at least five years, you could earn a better return by investing instead. A stocks and shares Isa means all profits and dividends are tax-free.
How to maximise your Isa savings
Here are some savvy ways to make the most of the higher rates currently available on cash Isas:
- Max out your allowance: if you have the cash to do so, you should max out your £20,000 allowance before the end of the tax year. That's because you can't carry over any unused allowance when it renews on 6 April.
- Mix and match: savers can now open and pay into multiple Isas of the same type annually. Previously, you could only put money into one of each type of Isa every tax year. The change means you can move more easily between different providers and get the best deal.
- Keep it in the family: if you've used up your allowance, but your partner hasn't, you can pay into their account instead, effectively increasing your shared Isa allowance to £40,000. If you have a child, you could also open a Junior Isa (Jisa) with an annual allowance of £9,000. A family of four could therefore save £58,000 a year tax-free.
