Customers: Call us free on
08085 007 007
You can call us between 7am and 10pm every day.
We’re here in the UK between 7am and 10pm every day. Calls from the UK are free. We may record your call to help us give you the best service.
What is NS&I’s core objective?
Here at NS&I, we raise cost-effective finance for Government, through savings products such as Income Bonds, Premium Bonds, Direct Saver and more. In 2020-21, we raised £23.8 billion of Net Financing.
Find out more about our range of savings products
We also have a business strategy, called Inspire & Invest, with our mission to inspire a stronger savings culture in the UK at its heart.
Read more about our business strategy and its aims
How do we measure whether we are cost-effective?
Each financial year, we report on whether it has been cheaper to raise money through NS&I’s products compared to the equivalent cost of raising money through gilts – a form of corporate bonds issued by HM Treasury. NS&I’s Value Indicator target was suspended for 2020-21 in response to exceptional market conditions. The Value Indicator compares the relative cost-effectiveness of raising money via NS&I with doing so via the gilt markets. Gilt yields reached exceptionally low levels in 2019-20, and this trend continued throughout 2020-21. As a result, the Value Indicator turned negative and continued to fall, as accessing funding through the retail market became a less cost-effective source of government financing.
For 2021–22, NS&I’s Value Indicator target has been agreed with HM Treasury as more positive than –£900 million.
Read more about our performance
Who does NS&I report to?
NS&I is an Executive Agency of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, meaning we report in to HM Treasury. The minister with responsibility for our work is the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, currently Andrew Griffith MP.
Find out more about the Economic Secretary to the Treasury
When was NS&I established?
The Post Office Savings Bank was founded in 1861 to encourage and cater for the savings of ordinary citizens.
Reorganisation of the Post Office as a public corporation led to its name changing to the Department for National Savings on 1 April 1968.
In 1969 NS&I became a separate government department responsible to Treasury ministers and independent from the Post Office known as the National Savings Bank.
In February 2002, the corporate identity was changed to our current form National Savings and Investments (NS&I) to reflect the services and products that we offer.
Find out more about how NS&I came to be and important moments in our history.