An NS&I Premium Bonds holder from Staffordshire won an impressive £25,000 prize in September 2024 from a £1 bond purchased back in April 1960.  

Premium Bonds, offered by National Savings & Investments (NS&I), a UK government-backed institution, function differently from regular savings accounts. Instead of earning consistent interest, each bond participates in a monthly prize draw, with winners chosen randomly.  

Investors can hold between £25 and £50,000 in Premium Bonds, with monthly prizes ranging from £25 to an astounding £1 million.

NS&I says the more bonds a person has, the higher their chance of winning a prize.

The Staffordshire winner was included in a newly released list of "bumper" figures from NS&I, which included other notable achievements in 2024.

According to the figures, another Premium Bonds holder also struck gold in September 2024, winning £100,000 from a £100 bond held since July 2024 - the first eligible draw for that bond.

Close to 71 million Premium Bonds prizes were won in 2024, with a total value of more than £5.5 =billion.

Of the winners, the South East proved to be 2024's Premium Bonds hotspot, with seven £1million prizes awarded to the region. The winning areas included West Sussex, Hampshire and Isle of Wight, Southampton, Surrey and Kent.

Premium Bonds marked 30 years of offering its £1million jackpot in April 2024. NS&I said the random prize generator "ERNIE" has now created 544 millionaires since the jackpot prize was introduced in 1994.

How to invest in Premium Bonds

Anyone aged 16 or over can purchase Premium Bonds, with a minimum investment of £25 required to get started.

The annual prize fund rate is 4%, which funds monthly tax-free prize draws. According to NS&I, the odds of a £1 bond number winning a prize are 22,000 to one.

Bonds must be held for a full month before becoming eligible for the prize draw. For example, bonds purchased in November would qualify for entry into the January draw.

Withdrawals can be made at any time online, by phone or by post with no notice or penalty. However, savers needing to withdraw money should plan in advance as it can take three to five days for the cash to reach their bank accounts.

Before NS&I accepts an application to purchase Premium Bonds, it must verify the applicant's identity and address, which may require submitting additional documents.

Once this process is complete, NS&I aims to open the account within seven to ten working days, provided no further documents are needed People can find out more about how to invest in Premium Bonds here.

It's important to note that investing in Premium Bonds does not guarantee prizes. Some individuals may go years without winning anything, leading some financial experts to argue that traditional interest-earning savings accounts can be more rewarding in the long run.

Speaking previously on his BBC 5Live podcast, the Martin Lewis Podcast, Martin Lewis said: "Most people should be looking at putting money in cash ISAs first because, with typical luck, you will win substantially more in a top one-year fix than you would in Premium Bonds and you'd see them win more in an easy access cash ISA.

"The thing about Premium Bonds is people live the dream in the hope that they're going to be the person who wins the £1million and virtually nobody will - but that's why it's appealing.

"People always say things like 'I win £25 every month', and in my cynical head I go 'yeah but if you put the same amount of money in the top cash ISA, you get a guaranteed win of £40 every month'."

Mr Lewis added: "They're not awful, I'm just about 'what's the best?', and for me, they're not the best."