Petar Lekarski

Assistant Editor – News & Investigations

Petar joined MoneySavingExpert in 2019, but his passion for all things MoneySaving goes back much further – as evidenced by his 'Part of the furniture' badge on the MSE Forum.

He developed his in-depth knowledge of bank accounts, credit cards, loans and savings in the Money team before moving across to MSE News. He has written about a wide range of personal finance topics, covering everything from mobile roaming charges to supermarket loyalty schemes to railcards.

In 2021, Petar researched and wrote MSE's comprehensive and massively popular guide to diesel emissions legal claims, and he continues to maintain it as the cases progress.

Petar has also worked directly with Martin Lewis as his researcher, supporting the MoneySavingExpert with his eponymous ITV show and other media appearances over a period of 18 months.

When he's not polishing prose or crunching numbers, you'll find Petar at the cinema, eating spicy food or cycling around London on a rented bike. He also enjoys playing video games, bouldering and lists of three.

Latest from Petar Lekarski

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The coronavirus pandemic has been uniformly devastating for the travel industry, with millions of holidays and travel bookings either unavailable or cancelled. Yet how firms treat their customers due to it has led to a stark divide, according to a major new investigative survey by MoneySavingExpert.com.

17 May 2020

Update Fri 15 May: Since this story was first published, savings rates have shifted again. For the current top rates, see our Top Savings Accounts guide. Savings providers Marcus and Saga have today cut interest rates on their easy-access accounts for the second time in a month – and some existing customers should now consider switching.

12 May 2020

Halifax is overhauling its popular Reward current account from 1 June 2020, boosting rewards if you can jump through some hoops, including having to tell it which reward you want in advance. But despite the better perks, many will actually be better off switching – read on to find out why. The Halifax Reward account is currently fee-free and offers a £2/mth reward each month you pay in at least £750, pay out two or more direct debits and stay in credit. From 1 June, the cash you can earn with the account is going up, but Halifax is adding a £3/month fee for some and making the criteria for getting the rewards tougher. If you're an existing Rewards customer and you opened your account before 13 March 2020, you have to sign up by this Friday if you want the new rewards – do nothing and you'll instead be automatically downgraded to a new fee-free current account offering no perks. If you opened your Rewards account after 13 March, you have until 12 June to decide whether to opt-in.

11 May 2020

The two top-paying easy-access savings providers Marcus and Saga cut the interest they pay new customers to 1.2% last Friday, and existing customers will also see rates drop. But after rival bank Aldermore also cut its rates over the weekend, Marcus and Saga remain the best buys.

19 April 2020

Nationwide is to cut the interest on its popular FlexDirect current account, in yet another blow to current account perks.

5 April 2020

The amount you can save in a junior ISA or Child Trust Fund will rise from £4,368 a year to £9,000 a year from April, the Treasury announced today.

11 March 2020

Savers have been dealt another blow after the interest rates of the two top-paying easy-access accounts were today cut to 1.3% – and existing customers will also be affected in the next few weeks.

19 February 2020

Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland will scrap daily fees for arranged overdrafts from April and instead charge an interest rate based on customers' credit history, with most set to pay 39.9%, but some an eye-watering 49.9%. That's the highest rate we've seen from banks overhauling their overdraft fees – though most customers will actually pay less for their overdraft as a result of the changes.

22 January 2020

Santander will slash the interest paid on its popular 123 current account to just 1% and cut the cashback it offers, MoneySavingExpert.com can reveal. It's also bringing in a single overdraft interest rate of 39.9% across most accounts. We've full details and analysis below, along with answers to some of the questions you've sent us since we first published this article.

21 January 2020

TSB Classic and Classic Plus customers will be charged an interest rate of 39.9% EAR on arranged and unarranged overdrafts from 2 April 2020, the bank has announced.

20 January 2020

Challenger bank Tandem has announced it is to start charging for its popular cashback credit card, with existing customers unable to use their cards from 9 March unless they pay a £5.99/month membership fee.

8 January 2020

Virgin Money has launched its first digital bank account, featuring a slick new app, linked easy-access savings account and branch service – but can it beat Monzo and Starling on their home turf?

13 December 2019

NatWest has launched an app-only bank account named Bó, offering built-in budgeting features and an eye-catching yellow card – but how does it compare with more-established digital rivals Monzo and Starling?

29 November 2019