The Financial Services Compensation Scheme has conformed today that it will protect money deposited in SAYE †schemes.

It said the that money deposited into banks and building society via standard SAYE schemes will be protected in the same way as any other deposit.

This protection applies to schemes where the deposit is held in individual accounts for each employee or in one common account. However, the scheme must hold full details of all individual depositors and the proportion of money they are entitled to.

This means an estimated 2 million employees participating in SAYE schemes, like other depositors, will be entitled to £50,000 guarantee in the event of the bank going bust. Any amount deposited via a SAYE scheme counts towards an individual's £50,000 compensation limit with that bank or building society.

Phil Hall, head of ifs ProShare, said: "Ifs ProShare has been liaising with the FSA and the Treasury and the HMRC on this issue for several months and we are naturally pleased with the outcome. While it was always our belief that such savings were protected, it is very helpful indeed to have clarification. Employees can now have absolute certainty that their SAYE plan savings are protected."