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Why does NS&I exist?
Who does NS&I report to?
How long has NS&I been around?
How many customers does NS&I have?
How much government funding is managed by NS&I?
What are your sales channels?
Why should anyone invest with NS&I?
How does NS&I set interest rates?
Who sets the interest rates?
How do you inform customers of rate changes?
Why do you change interest rates when the Bank of England announces changes to base rate?
Why does NS&I exist?
NS&I has two clear and distinct roles:
- to be a distinctive and valued part of people's investment portfolios
- to be an integral and valued part of national debt management
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Who does NS&I report to?
NS&I is an Executive Agency of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Our minister is the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Kitty Ussher MP.
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How long has NS&I been around?
We have been in business since 1861, when we were called The Post Office Savings Bank.
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How many customers does NS&I have?
We have around 27 million customers.
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How much government funding is managed by NS&I?
Around £79 billion, which is almost 16% of the national debt or 7% of the UK retail savings investments market.
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What are your sales channels?
NS&I products are available through 13,500 Post Office® branches. Customers can also use the post and increasingly are using the telephone. You can also apply for any of our products using this website.
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Why should anyone invest with NS&I?
We offer a range of consistently priced, 100% secure products, which are backed by HM Treasury. These can be used as a foundation for people's savings and investment portfolios.
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How does NS&I set interest rates?
In much the same way as other financial institutions. We look at what our competitors - the major high street banks and building societies - offer for similar products and the cost of funds in the money markets such as gilts and Treaury Bills.
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Who sets the interest rates?
NS&I sets our interest rates, which are then approved by HM Treasury.
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How do you inform customers of rate changes?
We advertise changes in national newspapers (e.g Daily Mail, The Telegraph), produces leaflets for the Post Offices, announce changes on our website and send press relases to the media. We also write to customers when their fixed-rate products mature.
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Why do you change interest rates when the Bank of England announces changes to base rate?
Although there is no direct link between base rates and the rates on our products, changes to base rate effects all short term variable rates in the market and we have to take account of this when setting interest rates on our variable products. NS&I’s fixed rate products are effected by movements in the gilt market.
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