Barclays has today cut rates on some savings accounts, while Nationwide has hiked its overdraft rates, even though Bank rate has been on hold for two months and is not expected to change this week.

Analysts said the moves were a sign banks and building societies are seeking to boost profit margins while interest rates remain at a record lows.

Barclays, which is one of the few banks that has not accepted taxpayers’ cash, has cut rates on its children’s savings accounts, Barclayplus and Barclays Children’s savings, by 0.25 percentage points.

The rate on £18,000 in its Cash Isa has also been reduced, from 0.31 per cent to 0.1 per cent.

The bank has also taken the axe to its popular Tax Haven Isa, which was closed to new business in March. The rate on the monthly-interest account, which was popular with pensioners, has been cut by a quarter point from 2.08 per cent to 1.83 per cent. This includes a one percentage point bonus for 12 months from the date you opened the account.

However, comparison firm Moneyfacts pointed out that Tax Haven has been cut by less than Bank rate since October last year, with a fall of 4.25 points against 4.5 for Bank rate.

The Barclays move comes just a week after it attracted criticism for hiking the overdraft rates on eight out of 12 current accounts, by up to 3.9 percentage points.

Nationwide has followed suit today, raising the authorised and unauthorised overdraft rate on its Flex current account from 17.9 per cent to 18.9 per cent. The rate stood at just 9.9 per cent in February 2008, according to Moneysupermarket.com, another comparison website

Kevin Mountford at Moneysupermarket, said: “The reduction in savings rates at Barclays, coupled with the increase in overdraft rates at both Barclays and Nationwide, is a clear indication that banks are looking to widen margins and others are likely to follow suit.

“This is a warning to people that even though Bank rate is not expected to change for the foreseeable future, it doesn’t mean savings rates will remain unchanged.”

Barclays has also changed the terms on its Golden Isa with effect from today. New customers will no longer receive a 1 per cent introductory bonus, taking the rate to just 2.55 per cent. Existing customers will continue to earn 3.55 per cent.

A spokesman said: “We are making some minor alterations to the interest rates in our current range; the vast majority of our savers will not be impacted. We continue to review the rates on our range of saving accounts in tandem with market conditions to ensure they are fairly and competitively priced.”

It also pointed out that it was raising rates on fixed-rate bonds tomorrow. Its new one-year bond, launched tomorrow, will pay 3 per cent compared with 2.2 per cent previously.

Nationwide also defended its move. “The rate remains below the average charged by most major high street banks,” a spokesman said.