January blues are well out the way as two lucky winners take home the million-pound jackpot in this month’s National Savings & Investments (NS&I) draw.
The two millionaire winners including the 500th premium bond winner are from Sefton in Merseyside and Sheffield.
The Sefton winner holds bond number 109ZT548786 which was purchased in May 2006 and has £30,000 in premium bonds. This makes them the 499th premium bond millionaire winner.
The winner from Sheffield holds £3,000 in premium bonds and won bond number 136RN551344 which was purchased in February 2008, making them the 500th NS&I millionaire.
This month’s prize draw will see even more winners as NS&I increases interest rates in a boost for Premium Bond holders to 3.15%, up from 3% in January.
Millions of other premium bond holders bagged a prize starting from £25 up to £10,000.
There are 59 winners for the £100,000 prize, 117 for £50,000, 235 for £25,000, 589 for £10,000 and 1,176 winners for £5,000. Other winners include:
- 12,556 holders won £1,000
- 37,668 holders won £500
- 1,278,833 holders won £100
- 1,278,833 holders won £50
- 2,373,046 holders won £25
That’s a total of 4,983,114 premium bond winners in February.
How to check if you’ve won premium bonds
Here’s how to check if you are a lucky premium bond winner.
Go online and use NS&I’s online prize checker or you can check the Prize checker app. This will let you see if you’ve won anything in this month’s draw, and you can backdate to previous months to make sure you haven’t missed a winning.
You can also ask your Amazon Alexa if you say your NS&I number out loud.
If you registered with NS&I online, then you should receive an email notifying you if you’ve won a prize. If you’re not registered online, you should receive a letter through the post.
If for any reason you can’t find a letter or email, you can access your account by calling NS&I on 08085 007 007, even if you’ve forgotten your NS&I number.
You can also use NS&I’s tracing service or the My Lost Account website so you can track down your premium bonds.
How do premium bonds compare to savings accounts?
This month the rate on the prize pot increased from 3% to 3.15%, but this doesn’t mean this is the rate savers will receive. If you have an NS&I direct saver or ISA, check what the rates have been increased to.
The rate increase on the prize fund is good news, but the chances of winning a prize still stand at 24,000 to 1, the same since December.
If you’re new to premium bonds, check if premium bonds are worth it.
And if you want a safer option for your cash, a savings account is your calling as you’re guaranteed a return.
The best easy access account on the market is currently offering 2.92% on savings, and if you’re a Barclays Blue Reward member, you could earn 5.15% on savings.
If you’re happy to put your money away for a year or two, check out the best cash ISA rates on the market.
Related articles
- What is National Savings and Investments? NS&I explained
- Premium Bonds vs the National Lottery - which is more likely to make you a millionaire?
- NS&I increases interest rates in a boost for savers and Premium Bond holders
- January 2023 Premium Bond winners revealed making two millionaires - how to check if you’ve won
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