Tesco Bank urges anyone with a bank account to put this date in your diary

Tesco Bank has urged savers to mark a key date on the calendar to help build up their savings. Chris Henderson, savings and payments director at the bank, encouraged people to shop around to make sure your savings are performing as well as they can.

He urged: "It's important to take a quick pit stop on your savings journey and check that the interest rate on your savings account - or Cash ISA - is still fit for purpose.

"Checking the market for the best rates is an important first step so that all the money you are saving is working its hardest."

One savings tip he shared is to set up a monthly transfer from your current account into your savings account to make sure you are regularly adding funds. He explained: "This helps earmark money for savings, so you don't spend it elsewhere.

"Whenever you spend less than you think, consider putting the extra money straight into your savings pot, as that'll help you reach your target faster."

The savings expert pointed to a particular time in the month you may want to do this: "A good time to do this is right after you've been paid, so you could set up a standing order to go out on, or just after pay day."

He also said it is good practice to set a goal for your savings with a clear figure and timeframe, to keep you on track. This could be saving up for a wedding, house deposit or holiday.

With the start of the new tax year, many savers will be putting funds in their ISAs as their £20,000 allowance renews. Mr Henderson encouraged savers to act sooner rather than later in this regard: "Typically, the earlier in the financial year you can save into an ISA, the more opportunity there is for your money to grow tax-free.

"Remember you don't have to use your full allowance - but it's important to save what you can. If you invested £3,000 in a cash ISA offering a fixed rate of 4% for 12 months, then you'd earn £120 in interest over the year."

Another option if you have some savings you don't immediately need is a fixed rate savings product, which tend to have higher rates than instant access accounts, with the perk of a guaranteed interest rate.

The banking expert explained: "You can choose for how long you want to keep your money tucked away, whether one, two, or even up to five years, which could align with a long-term savings goal nicely.

"It is important to note though that this money normally won't be accessible until the end of the fixed term, so you'll need to be sure you won't need to access it early."

Now is a good time to look at locking in a fixed rate as the base interest rate has been falling recently, with many banks dropping their rates as a result.

The Bank of England held the base rate at 4.5% in its latest decision but experts are predicting it could fall again this year. The next decision from the central Bank about how to adjust the rate will be on May 8.