You could be forgiven for forgetting all about the saving habit this year. With interest rates still languishing at 0.5%, millions of savers are earning next to nothing on their cash.

Bad news is also in store for hundreds of thousands of people who took out fixed-rate bonds paying around 7% 12 months ago.

Now, as these deals expire, rates are about to come down with a bump. Bradford & Bingley’s High Life 2-in-1 bond, for example, was paying 8% last summer but this will drop to only 0.1% at maturity if you fail to move to a better-paying account. For someone with £10,000 of savings, that would mean their annual interest falling from £800 to just £10.

In the second of a 10-part series, we look at how you can maximise your returns in this low-rate environment.

1 Loyalty doesn't pay

The average instant-access account was paying just 0.15% at the end of April. David Black of Defaqto, the financial analysis firm, said the best deals have big introductory bonuses, so you should make sure to move your money when the bonus period ends.

ING Direct’s Savings Account, for example, pays 2.75% on deposits of £1 or more. This includes a 2.22% introductory bonus payable for one year.

Beware accounts that limit the number of withdrawals you can make. For example, Citibank’s Reward Saver (issue 2) pays 2.00% — which includes a nine-month introductory bonus — but customers do not receive interest during any month in which they withdraw money.

2 To fix or not to fix

Most banks and building societies write to customers when their fixed-rate deal ends but there is no requirement for them to do so under the banking code, which means that your money could be stuck in a poor-paying account without you realising it.

The best fixed-rate bonds now pay around 4% — half their levels a year ago but are still better than moving into a “rollover” account. ICICI’s Hisave two-year deposit pays 4.35% on a minimum £1,000 deposit, for example. Someone with a £10,000 balance would earn £840 more in gross interest than if they left the money in an account paying the average rate of 0.15%.

For people with large savings, Abbey has a one-year bond offering 3.75% on a minimum investment of £25,000.