Expat rates: Offshore banks with holes could sink The Co-operative's offshore subsidiary is Britannia International. It also has a Co-operative Bank branch in Guernsey. A spokesman for Co-operative Bank said: "There are no changes to the high level of service our Britannia International customers receive today. The announcement [about the Co-op bonds] is our plan to meet future regulatory requirements on capital and we are now working on the detail behind this plan. A wider strategic update will be provided at the time of our interim results announcement in August. Currently Britannia International has the best easy-access variable-rate account, paying 1.5pc on a minimum £25,000, and also one of the top sterling notice accounts, at 1.75pc on 60-days' notice. Co-operative has 1.87pc fixed for one year on £5,000 with Britannia having 1.85pc for the same period of time. Co-operative has the best two-year fixed rate at 2.09pc on £5,000. At least offshore savings rates seem to have stabilised. There has been no change in any of the top savings rates over the past few weeks. However rates have plateaued at historically low levels. Currently the best five-year fixed rate an expat saver can get is just 1.92pc on £20,000 with Permanent Bank International. A year ago you could get 4.5pc fixed for five years with Lloyds TSB International. Lloyds TSB International does not currently have a five-year fixed-rate deal: it only has variable rates and a one-year fixed rate of 1.1pc - far lower than the best deals on offer. A year ago, you could get 4pc fixed for three years; the best now is 2.15pc. Onshore, the top three-year fixed rate is 2.55pc - a sizeable gap compared with the rates offshore savers get. The gap between on and offshore is even wider for five-year fixed rates - you can get 2.75pc fixed which is far more than paid offshore. Meanwhile, deposits in the two main centres for UK and Irish-owned offshore banks have risen - despite low rates. Total deposits in Guernsey banks by the end of March were up 4.4pc compared with the end of the year at £90.5bn according to the Guernsey Financial Services Commission. However, deposits were still 10.4pc lower than a year ago. Deposits in Isle of Man banks rose by 7.12pc from the end of the year to March 31 2013 to £49.65bn, according to the island's financial supervision commission.