IS the Bradfor & Bingley ISA the best?

icebergx

Hello everyone and happy New Year,

I'm interested in taking out an ISA and wanted the highest Interest possible. My question is:
Do you think the Bradford and Bingley ISA is the best all round in terms of the fact that interest is paid monthly so you have they flexibility to get your hands on it without having to wait too long (if you need to)?
Obviously the First Direct ISA has a higher rate in the short term (until March?) but not in the longer term and Halifax only pays interest annually.
What are your thoughts?
Are there any ISAs which are also in the top bracket which aren't on the 'moneysupermarket.com' site.

http://www.moneysupermarket.com/ISA/IsasResults.asp

Thanks.

YorkshireBoy

The main difference between the Halifax and Bradford & Bingley ISA's seems to be the max/min balance conditions (and of course the monthly interest option with B&B).

Halifax: £1 - £30K
B&B: £1K - £21K

To me the question of whether interest is paid monthly or annually is irrelevant, as my ISA's are a long-term savings vehicle.

Personally, I moved from IF to Halifax last October and my experience has been good so far.

icebergx

Thanks YorkshireBoy, I wasn't aware of the min/max balance restrictions. I think I'll still go with B&B for the easier access to the Interest.
Just to confirm, with the Halifax ISA, is the interest calculated daily and paid annually, so if I withdraw some cash 1 month from the anniversary I'll still receive the 11 months interest the withdrawal had accrued.

YorkshireBoy

icebergx wrote:

Just to confirm, with the Halifax ISA, is the interest calculated daily and paid annually, so if I withdraw some cash 1 month from the anniversary I'll still receive the 11 months interest the withdrawal had accrued.

Yes, it's calculated on daily balances and paid on the 5th April each year.

If you need to draw funds each month from a Halifax ISA, you'd just calculate what the interest paid 'would have been' using the B&B's monthly interest figure (assuming the AER's remain the same), and draw only that amount so as to leave your capital intact.

ffacoffipawb

YorkshireBoy wrote:

The main difference between the Halifax and Bradford & Bingley ISA's seems to be the max/min balance conditions (and of course the monthly interest option with B&B).

Halifax: £1 - £30K
B&B: £1K - £21K

To me the question of whether interest is paid monthly or annually is irrelevant, as my ISA's are a long-term savings vehicle.

Personally, I moved from IF to Halifax last October and my experience has been good so far.

My ISA has over £30k in it as it includes TESSA proceeds and I also transferred it from IF to Halifax ISA Direct 5% a couple of months ago.

Where is the reference to the £30,000 maximum balance? Does anything over this earn no interest?

Thanks

YorkshireBoy

ffacoffipawb wrote:

My ISA has over £30k in it as it includes TESSA proceeds and I also transferred it from IF to Halifax ISA Direct 5% a couple of months ago.

Where is the reference to the £30,000 maximum balance? Does anything over this earn no interest?

Sorry, I may have posted some innaccurate information (and I've posted it before as well!). I'd taken it from...

http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/savings/search/savingsearch.asp?investment=3000&monthlyInterest=0&noticedays=30&noFixedTerm=0&age=0&accounttype=3&next.x=18&next.y=9

...but can find no mention of the £30K cap in my ISA documents nor on their website (I've never looked before because it didn't affect me). I've just checked the B&B website, and can't find any sign of a £21K limit there either.

If you go to the moneyfacts link above, and click 'details' at the right hand side, the pop-up box says "Min-Max Investment: £1-£30K".

Unless of course, Moneyfacts have some information that the providers would rather we didn't know?

ffacoffipawb

YorkshireBoy wrote:

Sorry, I may have posted some innaccurate information (and I've posted it before as well!). I'd taken it from...

http://www.moneyfacts.co.uk/savings/search/savingsearch.asp?investment=3000&monthlyInterest=0&noticedays=30&noFixedTerm=0&age=0&accounttype=3&next.x=18&next.y=9

...but can find no mention of the £30K cap in my ISA documents nor on their website (I've never looked before because it didn't affect me). I've just checked the B&B website, and can't find any sign of a £21K limit there either.

If you go to the moneyfacts link above, and click 'details' at the right hand side, the pop-up box says "Min-Max Investment: £1-£30K".

Unless of course, Moneyfacts have some information that the providers would rather we didn't know?

I suspect it may be 7 lots of £3k for the last 7 years (the number of years that could be subscribed) plus £9k from a matured TESSA / TOISA and it excludes accrued interest?

tosh

From B&B conditions page
"You need to open your account with a minimum £1,000 balance/maximum £3,000 balance by sending a personal cheque from a bank account held in your name"
and
".4 Transfers In
4.4.1 Once your Account is open, you can request the balance of an existing cash ISAs held in your name to be transferred into the Account. Such requests must be made in writing using the dedicated 'Transfer In' form on the web-site. Your transfer in will be managed by the Bradford & Bingley eSavings unit on your behalf. Please note that a transfer in cannot form the initial deposit."

I take this to mean that if you have already invested more than £2000 of your allowance for 2005/6, B&B will not allow you to open an esavings account.

Unless someone knows different of course.

Tosh