Here we go - saving for your football team

Football fans can use affinity savings accounts to save money and help their favourite club at the same time. But are the deals on offer any good or should they be given the red card?

What are affinity accounts?

Basically affinity schemes offer branded financial products to members or supporters of particular organisations. They were once the preserve of trade unions but are now more commonly associated with sports teams, good causes and even political parties. Primarily offered by building societies, affinity accounts allow people to automatically donate part of the interest on their accounts to sports clubs or good causes, making it easy to give to their chosen cause.

Rachel Thrusell, head of savings at financial analyst, Moneyfacts, says the affinity account market is still dominated by sporting causes, but charity affinity accounts are beginning to grow in popularity. Today, you can choose from 32 accounts which donate funds to a variety of charities, ranging from worldwide causes to local based charities. The Building Societies Association BSA says £5.8million was donated this way to good causes in 2005 with 83% of accounts linked to football, 1% to rugby and the remainder to non-sporting organisations such as hospices, wildlife funds, organisations for the homeless and cancer charities. Building societies are predominantly regionally based rather than national organisations, allowing society members to choose to give to local charities.

One-nil to footballing finance?

So, the financial companies involved are introduced to a group of potential customers, the organisations concerned raise funds, but whats in it for the consumer? Not much if you look at some of the interest rates offered by affinity accounts on the market at the moment. Britannia Building Society, for example, offers Tottenham Hotspurs mortgages and savings accounts. Premiership Spurs are one of the top five supported teams in the UK with about two million supporters. Britannia has launched adult and junior instant access savings accounts with the club.

Each year Britannia will pay up to 1% of the value of the daily average balances in Adult Spurs savings accounts back to the club. In addition, every penny of profit the club earns from Spurs Mortgages will help towards building the future of the club. Tim Franklin, managing director of Britannia Member Business, says: "It's fantastic news to be adding a new team to the society's range of football affinity products. The accounts are a great way for fans to save or invest in their home while supporting their favourite team.