Less than two weeks after UFB Direct slashed the rate on its Airline Rewards Savings Account by two tenths of a percentage point, it’s taken the knife out again.

Holiday savings accounts (sometimes called Christmas club accounts) let you stockpile money over the course of a year. These accounts — offered at a limited number of banks and credit unions — can pay a higher interest rate than a standard savings account.

Salem Five Direct has a double bonus for savers: It’s raised its savings rate and guaranteed that rate through summer’s end.

If you open a new savings account or money market account at Flagstar Bank, your rate is guaranteed for four months.

After flying high above the competition for months, UFB Direct has cut the rate on its Airline Rewards Savings Account by two-tenths of a percentage point to 1.10% APY.

As 2011’s days dwindle, so has the number of banks paying more than 1.05% APY on their savings accounts.

You’ll earn 1.30% APY with the best nationally available savings account. But there are plenty of local offers that are better.

There’s such a big rate difference between the best nationally available savings account and everyone else that it’s hardly worth mentioning the competition.

The savings rate at NUVO Bank & Trust Co. in Springfield, Mass., is a quarter percentage point lower than it was about a year ago. And yet, it’s still nearly half a percentage point more than the best nationally available deal.