Expat rates: good news on the horizon - but a quick fix may still make sense

Meanwhile, the last remaining savers with Britannia International need to get a move on and shift their money away. Its owner, the troubled Co-operative Banking Group, announced in January that it was shutting up the Isle of Man-based Britannia International.

Over the past few months, interest rates on its accounts have been cut to encourage savers to take their money elsewhere. From June 6, no more interest will be paid on the Easy Access, Access Plus, Regular Saver and Junior Saver accounts. And for those with the 60-day notice account, the rate falls from 0.7-0.9pc to 0.2-0.4pc. Savers with the 90-day notice account will see their interest rates drop from 0.1-1.25pc to 0.1-0.5pc.

June will be the last month in which any interest is paid on a variable-rate Britannia International account: from July 8 interest payments will cease entirely.

You don't have to give notice on your account to withdraw your money from a Britannia International account, so it makes sense to do the transfer as soon as possible. By February 28 next year all accounts will be closed anyway, with banking operations stopping in the Isle of Man from then. As of May 30, most banking services are stopping – apart from account closures.

However, if you have a fixed-rate account with Britannia International, you need do nothing as your account will continue until maturity.

If you are one of the Britannia International notice account savers, where should you go if you want a similar type of account?

The closest to Britannia's 90-day notice account is Nationwide International's Bonus 95. It has a 95-day notice requirement and pays a current variable rate of 1.45pc on a minimum of £25,000. There are no comparable 60-day notice accounts, but you can get 1.4pc on £25,000 with Permanent Bank International's 35-day notice account.

The top rate on a notice account currently is Skipton International 's 180-day notice account, International Investor 180. It is paying 1.75pc variable on a minimum of £10,000. However be aware that six months is a long notice period to keep to: be happy with this before signing up. But as the interest rate on this account is already 0.5 of a point higher than the best available easy-access variable-rate account (Nationwide International's Bonus Access, paying 1.25pc on a minimum £25,000 – but 0.75pc for smaller balances), the risk of losing out during the notice period is fairly low.

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