A little nutty. Entirely fictional. No real banking here ↗

Savings · Products · FROM THE ACORNBANK FOREST

Squirrel Saver — Overview

A flexible savings pot for short-term plans. Label a goal, add to it whenever the imaginary pay packet arrives, and keep the money accessible when life changes its mind.

An acorn-shaped savings pot with coins.
A fictional bank, a real sense of humour. All people, places, products and figures are invented. No real banking or financial advice. About this demo.

Demo rate card3.75% AER / gross p.a. (variable)

The pound values and percentages on this page are invented AcornBank product terms, chosen for a realistic bank-style example. They are not current market offers, an invitation to deposit or invest money or a forecast of what a real bank will pay.

Product detailDemo terms
Account typeEasy-access savings
Rate, reward or charge3.75% AER / gross p.a. (variable)
Opening / maximum balance£1.00 to £100,000.00
AccessUnlimited withdrawals in the demo; no notice period
Eligibility in the scenarioOne adult aged 18 or over in the fictional AcornBank forest
FeesNo model account fee
CurrencyGBP (£), used solely for fictional calculations

Try your own numbers

Change the amounts to see what Squirrel Saver would do in the story. Fictional figures, no application, no advice.

Balance after 5 years£6,010.50£1,010.50 compounded interest at 3.75% gross, before tax
Interest in the first year
£187.50Credited yearly and re-invested
Extra earned by compounding
£73.00£937.50 is what paying the interest out would earn over the same term.
That is per month, roughly
£15.63First-year interest spread over twelve months.
Year by year, interest re-invested
YearInterest that yearBalanceTotal interest
1£187.50£5,187.50£187.50
2£194.53£5,382.03£382.03
3£201.83£5,583.86£583.86
4£209.39£5,793.25£793.25
5£217.25£6,010.50£1,010.50

Squirrel Saver against the rest of savings

FeatureSquirrel Saver3.75% AER · VARIABLEOak Ledger Fixed Saver4.40% AER · FIXED · 12 MONTHSHazelnut Cash ISA3.60% AER TAX-FREE · VARIABLEHazelnut Fixed Cash ISA4.30% AER TAX-FREE · FIXED · 12 MONTHSFixed Twig Bond4.60% AER · FIXED · 12 MONTHSWillow Tracker Bond4.75% AER · VARIABLE · 24 MONTHS
TypeEasy-access savings1-year fixed-rate savings accountEasy-access cash ISA1-year fixed-rate cash ISA12-month fixed savings2-year variable-rate bond
Rate, reward or charge3.75% AER / gross p.a. (variable)4.40% AER / gross p.a. (fixed)3.60% AER / tax-free (variable)4.30% AER / tax-free (fixed)4.60% AER / gross p.a. (fixed)4.75% AER / gross p.a. (variable, tracking the demo Forest Base Rate of 4.50% plus 0.25%)
Fixed rate No Yes No Yes Yes No
Tax-free wrapper No No Yes Yes No No
Withdraw during the term Yes No Yes No No No
Interest on £10,000 in year one£375.00£440.00£360.00£430.00£460.00£475.00
Minimum£1.00£500.00£1.00£500.00£1,000.00£1,000.00

Squirrel Saver in charts

The same fictional model as the tables below, drawn rather than written. Hover or focus a mark for its value, or open the table view.

Interest after 12 months by deposit3.75% AER, single deposit, no withdrawals
£0£500£1,000£1,500£2,000£1,000 · Interest: £37.50£37.50£1,000£5,000 · Interest: £187.50£187.50£5,000£10,000 · Interest: £375.00£375.00£10,000£25,000 · Interest: £937.50£937.50£25,000£50,000 · Interest: £1,875£1,875£50,000

Interest credited annually and rounded to the penny; figures exclude tax unless the wrapper is tax-free.

View as a table
CategoryInterest
£1,000£37.50
£5,000£187.50
£10,000£375.00
£25,000£937.50
£50,000£1,875
How £5,000 could grow over five yearsVariable rate held constant to show compounding
£0£2,000£4,000£6,000£8,000StartYear 1Year 2Year 3Year 4Year 5Start · Balance: £5,000Year 1 · Balance: £5,188Year 2 · Balance: £5,382Year 3 · Balance: £5,584Year 4 · Balance: £5,793Year 5 · Balance: £6,011£6,011

A scenario, not a forecast: a rate change would move every later point.

View as a table
PointBalance
Start£5,000
Year 1£5,188
Year 2£5,382
Year 3£5,584
Year 4£5,793
Year 5£6,011

What could your balance look like after 12 months?

Opening depositDemo AERInterest earnedClosing balance
£1,000.003.75%£37.50£1,037.50
£5,000.003.75%£187.50£5,187.50
£10,000.003.75%£375.00£10,375.00
£25,000.003.75%£937.50£25,937.50
£50,000.003.75%£1,875.00£51,875.00
£100,000.003.75%£3,750.00£103,750.00

Assumptions: one opening deposit, no additions or withdrawals, no fees or tax, and the stated rate for the whole period. Interest is credited once at each anniversary and rounded to the nearest penny, with half-pennies rounded up. AER and gross p.a. match in this annual-credit model.

If £5,000.00 stayed for longer

AnniversaryInterest that yearBalanceTotal interest
1£187.50£5,187.50£187.50
2£194.53£5,382.03£382.03
3£201.83£5,583.86£583.86
4£209.39£5,793.25£793.25
5£217.25£6,010.50£1,010.50

The variable rate is held constant solely to show annual compounding. These are scenarios, not forecasts; a future rate change would change every later row. Figures are before inflation.

Top questions about Squirrel Saver

What is Squirrel Saver for?

A flexible savings pot for short-term plans. Label a goal, add to it whenever the imaginary pay packet arrives, and keep the money accessible when life changes its mind. Its story purpose is a first home for spare savings. Everything on this site is fictional; nothing can be applied for.

What rate does Squirrel Saver pay?

3.75% AER / gross p.a. (variable), gross, before tax. It can change, because the rate is variable; projections hold it constant only for arithmetic.

All Squirrel Saver FAQs

Squirrel Saver is easy-access savings in the Savings range, used for a first home for spare savings. Its live rate card, summary and worked tables sit above this text and update whenever the product record changes.

Meet your next imaginary account

The purpose of Squirrel Saver is a first home for spare savings. Start with the access rules, then compare the cost or return with your story’s timescale. A higher headline figure does not make a locked account suitable for an immediate bill, and a reward percentage is not the same as an interest rate.

See the whole Savings range or compare every product on the rates page.

What the example does not promise

All figures are invented and shown to make the demo useful to read and crawl. No money is held, no application is available, and no deposit-protection, regulatory or tax-wrapper status is claimed. Calculations do not account for personal tax, inflation or unstated changes in rates. The fictional bank manager can guarantee only that the next paragraph contains no real acorns.


AcornBank: entirely fictional banking, exceptionally committed squirrels.