Anyone with a Lloyds or Barclays savings account urged to make this change

Loyal savers with high street banks Lloyds Bank and Barclays have been urged to look around as they could get a much better rate of return elsewhere.

Several big name banks have dropped their interest rates recently after the Bank of England axed the base rate in its decision on May 8, down from 4.5% to 4.25%.

Customers may be looking around for an alternative savings account with a higher rate but an expert has urged people to think about diversifying their savings to grow their money even more.

Wander Rutgers, UK CEO of investing app , called on savers to act now. He said: "The UK needs to come out of its savings shell to reap the rewards of investing.

"Cash still has a place, but in recent weeks, banks like Nationwide have slashed interest rates on savings accounts and Cash ISAs.

"Even major high-street banks such as Lloyds and Barclays are now only offering up to 4% interest, and that's just on fixed-term ISA products. Easy access rates are pitifully low."

Lloyds' top ISA rate is currently 4% with its one-year fixed cash ISA while Barclays is offering 3.85% with its one-year flexible ISA, although this rate is only available to certain customers.

The rates drop much lower for the two banks' instant access ISAs, with Lloyds offering from 1.1% to 1.35%, while Barclays pays just 1.16%.

Looking at the top rates shown on moneyfactscompare.co.uk at the time of writing, you can get rates above 4.2% on a number of one-year fixed rate ISAs, and above 4.8% with several easy access cash ISAs.

But you could get even better returns from investing. Research from Lightyear looking at the past nine years found if you invested in the FTSE100 compared to cah ISAs, you would be five times better off.

If a person had invested £10,000 in stocks & shares in 2016, they would be £5,110 better off today than if they had put their funds in cash ISA savings.

Mr Rutgers urged: "To build meaningful long-term wealth, investing in stocks and shares needs to become the rule, not the exception. It should sit alongside cash savings, under a single ISA wrapper, to help people get the most from their money."

You can currently deposit up to £20,000 a year into ISAs, and this allowance can be split between different types of account, including cash ISAs and stocks & shares ISAs.

There was recently speculation that Chancellor Rachel Reeves could bring in a £4,000 cap on how much you can deposit into cash ISAs, to encourage people to diversify more into stocks & shares ISAs.

Peter Rice, investment adviser at investment group , spoke about the different options available to savers. He said: "Stocks and Shares ISAs, often viewed through the lens of carrying significantly greater risk, can in fact offer a spectrum of lower-volatility options suitable for cautious or short-term savers-especially when guided by professional advice.

"There is a range of alternatives-money market funds or low-risk bonds, to name a couple-which can help people adopt a cautious position whilst still making use of the full £20,000 allowance."