Martin: 'It's possible to get the best of both worlds'

MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis said: "The great concern with Help to Save was that it would encourage people to save when they should instead be paying off debts, including some extremely expensive ones like payday loans. Yet they have managed to work a structure that enables people possibly to have the best of both worlds.

"The fact that you are given the bonus based on the highest amount you have saved, rather than the amount that you actually have in there, means you can build up your savings until you have an emergency that you would otherwise have borrowed for and then use your savings instead of borrowing - but you'll still be rewarded for the fact that you saved in the first place.

"It's a very clever scheme and one that will work for many people. Of course though, if you have extremely expensive debts, rather than saving, it's best to try and clear those first."