Warning issued for anyone who has £5,000 in high street bank account A staggering £526billion is estimated to be sitting idle in current accounts earning no interest, data shows. Warning issued for anyone who has £5,000 in high street bank account A warning has been issued to anyone who has over £5,000 in their bank account. A staggering £526billion is estimated to be sitting idle in current accounts earning no interest, data shows. It means some 29million people miss out on £20billion annually in interest by leaving money languishing in current accounts and not moving it to high-interest savings accounts, research from Paragon Bank reveals. ‌ One in three people have £5,000 sitting in their current account, while the average current account balance is £2,067. Derek Sprawling, of Paragon Bank, says: "High street banks are offering little to no interest on savings while making it unnecessarily difficult to access better alternatives, resulting in the rise of "current account coasters"." ‌ READ MORE 39 counties in England at risk of 'power cuts' in 29C UK heatwave The issue goes beyond just poor savings rates—a more fundamental challenge appears to be apathy among savers. Many individuals aren't actively managing their savings or seeking out the best accounts to ensure their money grows as much as possible. Article continues below According to Paragon, one in ten people admit they leave money in their current accounts simply because they haven’t yet gotten around to moving it to a higher-paying savings account. Another 11 per cent report that they have no specific reason for not transferring their funds to a high-interest account. Interestingly, just over 20 percent of people say they keep money in their current accounts as a rainy-day fund, suggesting that for some, the convenience of easily accessible funds outweighs the potential for better interest returns. For savers who actively seek higher returns, the difference can be significant. For example, if £5,000 were placed in the best easy-access savings account paying 4.76 per cent interest, it could generate around £243 in interest. In contrast, the average current account balance of £2,067 would only earn around £175.56 if placed in the same high-interest account. Article continues below Clearly, savers are missing out on significant growth by not taking advantage of the best available interest rates.