Earn up to 6% with these supermarket Christmas savings schemes to put towards your festive shop
Supermarkets including Asda, Morrisons and Tesco run so-called Christmas savings schemes to help shoppers save for their festive food shop
SHOPPERS can earn an effective 6 per cent interest to put towards their festive shop by saving each time they spend at their chosen supermarket - but they should be aware that their cash isn't protected.
A number of supermarkets, including Asda, Morrisons, and Tesco, run so-called Christmas savings schemes to help shoppers save for their festive food shop.
We run through the major retailers' schemes below.
But before signing up, you should be aware that your money is not protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) - see the box below for more information.
You should also check if your chosen supermarket sets an expiry date on how long you have to use any cash saved and bonuses given.
Some, such as Tesco, require you to use your vouchers within two months.
Is my Christmas savings money safe?
THE Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) covers savings of up to £85,000 in UK banks or building societies, which means you get your money back if your provider goes bust.
But Christmas savings schemes don't come with this protection, and back in 2006, families lost a combined £37million when Christmas savings scheme, Farepak, went bust.
Just one of the supermarket schemes The Sun checked - Co-op's savings stamps - detailed clearly on its website that cash is separated in an independently managed trust account, which it says means your money is safe if it goes bust.
While at the time of writing only Iceland and Tesco had come back to us to confirm that they too keep money in separate trust accounts.
None of the five supermarkets we looked at - Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Morrisons, and Tesco - are members of the , which requires members to follow a code of practice to help protect savers' cash.
While we're not suggesting any of these supermarkets is about to go bust, to be on the safe side we'd recomend sticking your money in one of these schemes just before the bonus is going to be paid to ensure as little time saved in a scheme as possible.
If you'd rather save your money in a bank, you won't earn as much interest, but you may have greater peace of mind - so check out our top easy-acess savings accounts.
Asda's Christmas Savings Card - earn up to 6 per cent
How much can I earn? Save £49 and you get £1 (that's an effective interest rate of 2 per cent), save £97 and you get £3 (3 per cent), and save £144 and you get £6 (4 per cent).
You can save as many cards you want.
When is my bonus paid? The bonus will be paid at 5pm on November 18.
Co-op's saving stamps - earn 4 per cent
How much can I earn? Here, you can save £1 per shop. For every £48 you save, you get a £2 bonus (an effective interest rate of 4 per cent).
Plus, there's no limit on how many lots of £48 you can save and be paid a bonus on.
When is my bonus paid? The bonus is paid in December.
Iceland's Bonus Card - earn 5 per cent
How much can I earn? £1 for every £20 saved (5 per cent) up to a maximum of £1,000.
Last year, Iceland changed this to £1 for every £10 spent between October 16 and 29 so watch this space as it may run a similar offer this year.
Boost your energy by 5%
A SIMILAR scheme run by Ovo enables its prepayment Boost customers to earn 5%.
The "Winter Wallet" works by allowing customers to set up a savings pot that can be added to every time they top up their pay-as-you-go pre-payment account.
Customers can set a savings target, which if met by November 8, will be topped up with an energy credit worth 5 per cent.
The idea is that over the warmer months when energy usage is less, customers can add money to the savings pot to boost their account for when they'll likely use more energy in winter.
If Ovo were to go bust, energy regulator Ofgem would protect any credit saved on accounts.
When is my bonus paid? The Sun has asked Iceland when shoppers will get their bonus as it's not clear on the website or in its terms and conditions.
Last year, the bonus was paid on November 2.
Morrisons' Christmas Savers - earn up to 3 per cent
How much can I earn? Earn £1 when you save £49 (2 per cent), £3 when you save £97 (3 per cent), £4 when you save £146 (3 per cent), and £6 when you save £194 (3 per cent).
There's no limit on how much you can save but bonuses will only be paid up to a maximum of £6.
When is my bonus paid? Just before midnight on October 31.
Tesco Christmas Saver - earn up to 6 per cent
How much can I earn? Save between £25 and £49.50 and you'll earn £1.50, you'll get £3 on savings of £50 to £99.50, £6 on £100 to £199.50 saved, and £12 on £200 to £360 saved.
In every scenario this is an effective return of between 3 per cent and 6 per cent.
When is my bonus paid? October 16.
We've rounded-up some more top tips to help you start your festive food shop early and save money.
One savvy Sun Saver shares her top tips on how to wrap up the savings this Christmas.
In related news, Tesco is selling a festive unicorn cake for Christmas – and it looks amazing.
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