Premium Bonds winners have been announced for May, with people up and down the country receiving welcome news that they have some extra cash coming their way.
With a total prize fund of over £98 million and over 3.4million prizes being handed out, there's a good chance that you could well be one of these lucky winners.
Two people, one from greater Manchester and another from Wandsworth, have received the top prize of £1million - not a bad way to get over this week’s hump day.
The lucky Wandsworth winner secured their cash with just £1,000 in bond value. Six more people walk away with a tidy extra £100,000 in their pocket.
What are Premium Bonds?
Premium Bonds are a type of investment offered by National Savings and Investments (NS&I), where rather than earning interest you are entered into a prize draw.
Normal savings accounts see holders paid dividends on their investments, but with Premium Bonds that money gets used to fund the prize money for lucky winners.
Have I won Premium Bonds?
The quickest and most efficient way to find out if you’ve won on Premium Bonds is to log on to the NS&I website.
From here you will want to find the Prize Checker, which will allow you to see any winnings you may have earned or that you have historically.
The Prize checker gets updated on the first day of every month and will include your winnings of the past six draws, as well as past wins from before that time that you haven’t yet claimed.
In order to access your prize checker account, you will need to know your NS&I number, login and password.
Don’t worry if you’ve forgotten these, as there are tools available to help you recover anything you might have lost.
There is also a handy prize checker app that allows you to see if you have any winnings on the go.
How do enter Premium Bonds?
You can buy Premium Bonds online through NS&I’s secure online payment system. All you need is your debit card.
NS&I is designed to offer a different way to save money.
Premium bonds are just one option offered by the organisation, and provide a fun way to save money that keeps alive a sliver of hope that that dream money could be just around the corner.
The maximum you can invest is £50,000, but you can put in as little as £25.
NS&I suggest this probably isn’t the best saving option for you if:
- You want a regular income
- You're looking for guaranteed returns
- You're concerned about inflation
- You want to save jointly with someone else
What are the odds of winning Premium Bonds?
The odds of winning Premium Bonds are 34,500 to 1 for every £1 you put in.
There is a 1% interest but rather than taking this home yourself it goes into the pot for the prize money.All payouts are tax-free.
