Money MoT: Britannia savings bond Britannia and the Cooperative Bank (both now part of the same group) have bucked the saving trend and launched new versions of both their one-year and two-year bond that pay a higher rate to savers than the replaced product. It's one-year bond is now paying a rate of 2.31pc, up from 1.62pc, while its two-year bond is paying 2.5pc (up from 1.84pc). The bank has also launched a new three-year bond paying 3pc. The minimum investment for all these bonds is £1,000 and all can be opened either in a branch or by post. In recent weeks the rates paid on most fixed-rate bonds has tumbled so savers will be cheered that this mutual is moving in the opposite direction. What's more, both the one and three-year accounts offer the best deals on the market. The two-year deal can be bettered by Virgin (paying 2.65pc) but the rate is close to the top. It remains to be seen if this will encourage other institutions to follow suit: if not, expect such competitive rates to sell out quickly.