Chetwood Bank

Who they are

Chetwood Bank is a Wrexham-based digital bank that received a restricted banking licence in late 2017 before being granted a full UK banking licence in December 2018. It launched in 2016 under the name Chetwood Financial Limited, built around a stated culture of openness and honesty. Investors include Elliott Investment Management and the Welsh Government.

The bank operates entirely online - there are no branches. The only way to manage a Chetwood Bank savings account is online, using online banking. That suits savers who are comfortable doing everything digitally, though it is worth bearing in mind if you prefer face-to-face service. Since 2019, more than £3.5 billion has been deposited with Chetwood's savings proposition, SmartSave. That is a meaningful signal that the bank has found a real audience among UK savers.

In 2024 the bank also entered the buy-to-let mortgage market with the acquisition of the specialist lender CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries. So while savings remain the core product for retail customers, Chetwood is quietly becoming a broader financial services business.

Savings accounts

Chetwood currently offers two fixed-rate products on DepositScout: a 6 Month Fixed Savings account and a 5 Year Fixed Rate Savings account. Both require a minimum deposit of £1,000.

The 6 Month Fixed Savings is a short-commitment option - useful if you want to lock in a rate without tying money up for long. The 5 Year Fixed Rate Savings is for savers who are confident they will not need the money for the full term and want the certainty of a fixed return over a longer horizon. Rates move frequently in this market, so the live figures on this page are your most reliable reference point.

On interest timing, it is worth knowing how Chetwood handles longer-term fixed accounts. For accounts with a term of 24 months or more, interest is added to the savings balance once a year on the anniversary of the opening of the account. For accounts with a term of 12 months or less, interest is added to the savings balance at the end of the term. That matters for tax planning - interest paid at maturity on a short-term account all lands in one tax year, which could push some savers over their Personal Savings Allowance.

Chetwood does not currently offer Cash ISAs or easy access accounts through DepositScout. If you need instant access to your money or want tax-free savings, you will need to look elsewhere.

FSCS protection - an important detail

Your deposits are covered by the FSCS, but there is something specific to flag here. All of Chetwood's savings accounts are covered by the FSCS. The maximum protection is £120,000 - and this applies to the total of any savings you have with Chetwood Bank and SmartSave, either directly or via their partners.

In plain terms: SmartSave is a separate brand that also operates under Chetwood's banking licence. The protection limit is shared among all of the brands receiving deposits against a single banking licence. For customers, this means that any money saved with Chetwood Bank either directly or through one of their partners will share the £120,000 protection. If you already have money saved through SmartSave, that counts towards the same limit. Check the FCA Register if you are unsure whether any existing savings are held under the same licence.

Is it right for you?

Chetwood tends to appeal to savers who are rate-focused, comfortable online, and happy to commit to a fixed term. The bank regularly appears near the top of fixed-rate tables - particularly across short and medium terms - which is why it has accumulated billions in deposits despite having no branches and little brand recognition on the high street.

Chetwood can only offer savings accounts to sole applicants where the account holder is the named applicant. This means they are unable to offer accounts in joint names, or where a person holds Power of Attorney on behalf of someone else. That is a genuine limitation for some savers and worth knowing before you apply.

There are no switch offers available through Chetwood at this time. If a current account bonus is part of your decision, you will need to look at other providers.

For anyone focused purely on the fixed-rate savings market, Chetwood is a name worth keeping on your radar. As always, check the live rates shown on this page before making any decisions - the market moves, and what was true last month may not be true today.