Taking the time and effort to move your money to an account that pays 1.46% interest on your savings can feel like a waste of time.
But what if you could see returns of more than 5% on your money?
Well, not only is it possible, it's something financial guru Martin Lewis is already doing with some of his cash.
How? By using peer-to-peer accounts that take your money and then lend it out directly to people and businesses in the UK.
It's the model banks were built on, just without the banks, and that means you get a rate much closer to the ones offered borrowers - rather than a tiny fraction of it.
But while the rates on offer can be ten times what you make on an easy-access savings account, it's not without risk.
"Peer-to-peer lending looks like savings (but with higher interest, eg, 5%), acts like savings, but smells like investing," Martin told readers of the MoneyEavingExpert.com newsletter .
"It ISN'T covered by the UK savings safety net , which protects bank, building society and credit union savings up to £85,000 per person, per institution if they went bust."
And companies do sometimes go bust - with two lesser-known peer-to-peer providers, Lendy and Funding Secure, collapsing recently.
However, that doesn't mean he's against it.
"I'm not anti peer-to-peer, I do it myself," Martin said.
But that he has got concerns about it.
"I meet more and more people who see it as akin to savings. It isn't. It's investing," Martin said.
"Investing can be great, you do it to get higher returns than savings, but the cost is the risk of losing money."
"It's important to accept that risk, not just when putting money in, but then continually reviewing whether you want the exposure.
"That's especially important in uncertain times, such as right now. For those comfortable with the risk, peer-to-peer can be a great option (and has been for me)."
These are Martin's key things to think about before putting cash into peer-to-peer:
- There's NO savings safety back-up if firms go bust, unlike with normal savings.
- Individual borrowers may be unable to repay, so how big your lending chunk is to each individual matters.
- Getting money out quickly can be difficult, especially if others are trying to 'sell' their loans on at the same time.
- Legally the loan is usually between you and the borrower, so if a platform goes bust, you're still owed. They should have policies to keep collections going after they go bust, but it's mostly untested. Investors in collapsed firm Lendy are still waiting to see if they'll get back their share of the £150m invested.
- Those are the known unknowns, but as it's a new industry, I've always warned, and still do, of potential unknown unknowns, ie, risks that no one has thought of yet.
And, finally, there was his most important rule of all.
"As with all investments, my view is NEVER HAVE MORE MONEY IN THAN YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE," Martin said.
MoneySavingExpert.com has a full guide to the risks of peer-to-peer lending here .
