Savings and Investments

Football fans in the West Midlands who follow Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Walsall Football Club are struggling at the bottom of the league table when it comes to interest rates on football related savings accounts, according to a recent study. Football fans who use affinity accounts with their chosen team in this area are seeing a lower interest return on their investments.

Savings accounts with an affinity to a football team are becoming ever more popular, many teams benefit from the investment their fans make and many see it as a loyal gesture which in turn should see them reap a high interest return on their savings. However many such as the aforementioned clubs in the Midlands have seen their interest rates drop from an impressive 2.47 per cent at the start of last season to just 0.19 per cent as the big kick-off approaches. This has left many fans feeling sicker than a penalty shoot-out defeat.

Many fans are happy to sacrifice a higher interest rate for the good of their team and in some cases they have reaped the rewards and seen their savings interest rate soar higher than that of a regular building society or bank savings account. There is however good news for fans of Wolverhampton Wanderers (arch rivals of West Bromwich Albion, Birmingham City and Walsall) as they have seen their rates rise as high as 5.15 per cent in the past year.

However despite the decline in interest rates for the fan, clubs have only seen a minimal change as the contribution they receive has only fallen from 1.11 per cent to 1.04 per cent, a minor change of 0.07 per cent.

Partnerships between local building societies and football clubs have seen the clubs make millions, for example the Staffordshire moor land based Britannia building society and local premier league team Stoke city has generated £6.7 million for the club in the past season alone. Similarly the West Bromwich building society has generated over £2 million through its savings accounts affinity scheme for local Championship high flyers West Bromwich Albion.

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If you are interested in savings accounts or looking to set up an isa in the near future you may wish to use a savings calculator to help maximise your money and make the most out of your cash.