Alliance and Leicester Direct ISA Issue 4 low rate!

wiimad

God sounds like all the ISA accounts are dropping,Natwest would proberley be the best for myself as i already bank with them,However i guess its the dreaded 30 day wait time( hanging onto money for as long as possible) that also effects the rate of interest from previous experiance.

masonic-where did you hear about the rate drop?

masonic

wiimad wrote: »

God sounds like all the ISA accounts are dropping,Natwest would proberley be the best for myself as i already bank with them,However i guess its the dreaded 30 day wait time( hanging onto money for as long as possible) that also effects the rate of interest from previous experiance.

Although I've just had a very bad experience with Natwest transferring an ISA, it should normally only take a couple of weeks.

masonic-where did you hear about the rate drop?

https://www.emoneyfacts.co.uk/news/savings-news.aspx
Edit: Note rates seem to be gross rates, so you need to convert them to AER where appropriate.

wiimad

Thanks all for the help :T

fullstop

A plus point for RBS is that they apply the bonus 1.75% from the day they receive your ISA transfer form but the 12 months starts again from when the the funds arrive from your old provider, so it could be 13- 14 months while the forms are in limbo land. Will it still apply from Monday though??????

Pandora123_2

If you can do without your funds for a year, you could transfer it to a 1-year fixed rate ISA with Halifax at 5.25%.

That way you can keep it in an ISA and get a much better return than 3.55%.

PParka

wishiwasarichgirl wrote: »

[strike]
also don't forget that with the A&L ISA you are getting a 1% bonus on top of the normal rate until may 09 making the rate 4.55
[/strike]

edit, just looked at the A&L site again, the 3.55 includes the bonus - how rubbish is that!!

Thanks for pointing this out.
I initially thought it was 3.55% plus a 1% bonus. But you're right it's 3.55% including the 1%

I might as well cash in my ISA and offset it against my mortgage. It's effectively 3.95% tax-free.

masonic

PParka wrote: »

I might as well cash in my ISA and offset it against my mortgage. It's effectively 3.95% tax-free.

Can you not find a fixed rate ISA paying more than that?

funkyhitman

Woo hoo looks like I picked the right time to move out of A+L and into Scottish Widows. With a rate of 4.6% they beat Natwest's 4.41% (for £1 - £8,999) even though SW bonus rate is 0.26% lower than NW...I thought that might happen. It feels good when you make the right choice...for now anyway.

fullstop

fullstop wrote: »

If you have between £9000 and £14000 a RBS ISA is paying 5.9% including a 1.75% bonus for 1 year. This rate is only for transfers into RBS, not new money. Better check again on Monday to see if the rates have gone down.

Checked today and the rate for £9000 to £14000 at RBS has indeed gone down to 4.40% including the 1.75% bonus.

FiscalFanny

I did exactly that, checked my A&L Issue 4 rate BEFORE I thought about transferring in my ICESAVE returned money. Paltry 3.5% including the bonus. PAH. I hate A&L anyway, (bad, bad experience with the Ombudsman on my side thankfully :T ) I'd get more on my Nationwide esaver account at 4.5% gross even after tax.

I'm going to switch my A&L ISAs to Halifax on a fixed rate of 5.25% for a year as I think as rates go down and down over the next year at least i know I'm fixed for a good chunk of my savings. The new one to open with my ICESAVE money, I'll wait to see who's offering what after this week's news. Otherwise it can sit in my esavers till I decide. No point going for a 6% payer...call me cynical but I reckon a few of these naughty banks are keeping their ISA's at high rates till a large proportion of ICESAVE customers get their re-investment certificates and pile in only for them to reduce them down rather sharpish.

God I love this website, and the man in charge. :money:

Fanny