Premium Bonds winners: Record £330million to be paid in prizes in March

Record £330million prizes will be paid to Premium Bonds winners this month… as lucky savers have now won £25billion since first draw in 1957

  • March’s draw will see a record £330million payout to lucky savers
  • This is thanks to the rise in the prize fund rate to 3.3% 
  • March’s £1 million jackpot winners are from Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire 

Premium Bonds savers will receive a record £330million in prizes this month, meaning more than £25billion has been paid out to winners since the first-ever draw in 1957. 

The bumper winnings come after NS&I’s decision to up the prize fund rate to 3.3 per cent – the highest rate in more than 14 years.

The change to the Premium Bonds prize fund rate is the fifth increase that NS&I has made in the last year and the third rise in 2023 alone.

Savings lottery: Premium Bonds offer an average prize fund rate of return that has now risen to 3.3% – a level that beats most easy access savings deals

Premium Bonds remain the nation’s most popular savings product with roughly 21million people holding a collective 120 million eligible Bond numbers between them.

The two winners of this month’s £1 million jackpot came from Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

The person from Nottinghamshire won with the maximum £50,000 in Premium Bonds, having purchased their winning Bond in October 2020.

The Oxfordshire-based winner won with £30,284 in Premium Bonds, having bought their winning Bond in January 2018.

Jill Waters, retail director at NS&I, said: ‘Since the first ever Premium Bonds draw in 1957, we’ve now paid out a staggering £25.1billion in prizes – that’s an impressive milestone, and shows why Premium Bonds continue to be so popular with so many people.

‘Could you be a jackpot winner next month? Make sure all your contact details are up to date, including your address – you never know, one of our Agents Million might be knocking on your door sometime soon to deliver the life-changing news.’

March 2023 prize draw breakdown compared to Febraury
Value of prize Number of prizes in Feb  Number of prizes in March
£1,000,000 2
£100,000 59  62
£50,000 117  124
£25,000 236  249
£10,000 590  622
£5,000 1,177  1,242
£1,000 12,573  13,220
£500 37,719  39,660
£100 1,280,509 1,406,020
£50 1,280,509 1,406,020
£25 2,376,161 2,140,768
Total prizes: 4,989,652  5,007,989
 Total value of Prizes: £314,347,875  £330,527,200

At its current rate of 3.3 per cent, the odds of each £1 Bond winning a prize will remain at 24,000 to 1 – but this month’s changes mean that the number of prizes worth £50 to £100,000 have now increased.

For example, there were 62 prizes worth £100,000 this month, up from 59 last month, and the number of £50,000 prizes rose from 117 in February to 124 in March.

This is Money publishes a list of winners of prizes worth £1,000 and above here.  

Premium Bonds holders can also check to see if they have won a prize in March’s prize draw, by using the NS&I’s prize checker, official prize checker app or their Alexa-enabled device from tomorrow.

Customers will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website and their NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app.

At the same time, they can also check for any unclaimed prizes owed to them. 

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