is an ISA transfer worth it for 0.3%?

wongo

hello,

this might seem a stupid question but:

my partner & I have £3K each in Yorkshire building soc E-ISAs at 4.9%. Is it worth the hassle of transfering these to the A&L direct ISA at 5.2%? We plan to put another £3K each into the ISAs in April.

Eg. what would the extra interest translate into as cash.

Many thanks

Deemy

I would not, I view ISA's as longer term so tend to go for the 2 to 4 year fixed rates.

ReportInvestor

wongo wrote:

what would the extra interest translate into as cash

£18 on £6K, £36 on £12K.

But will A&L actually stay 0.3% ahead of friendly, mutual YBS for a whole year?

Your call.

Mr_Mumble

"Friendly, mutual YBS" did cut their e-isa rate by .3% versus the the base rate cut of .25% last September ... I'd still trust them more than A&L but that isn't saying much.

Don't agree with Deemy in fixing rates now. No fixed rate account offers more than 5% afaik, there is no value in locking up the money. The next rate change is likely to be down but fixing for 2+ years when about 30-40% of the 'analysts' feel interest rates will be higher at the end of the year... is it worth the loss of flexibility?

There is a fair-to-good chance of the BoE reducing rates in February or March. A rate change will see a shake-up in which ISAs are the most competitive. The likes of Halifax and Kent who only reduced their ISA rates by .15% after the last base rate cut are now amongst the handful of top rate givers. Best to wait methinks.

tomstickland

I'm interested in all this too because my First Direct ISA rate drops in February.

jrb1221

If it helps, I'm moving from the Abbey Postal ISA (was 5.35%, now 4.9%) to A&L at 5.2%. It starts to make sense the more you have to transfer. (Per £1000, you talking £3 per year more interest) so you decide it its worthwhile...

Deemy

Mr_Mumble wrote:

"Friendly, mutual YBS" did cut their e-isa rate by .3% versus the the base rate cut of .25% last September ... I'd still trust them more than A&L but that isn't saying much.

Don't agree with Deemy in fixing rates now. No fixed rate account offers more than 5% afaik, there is no value in locking up the money. The next rate change is likely to be down but fixing for 2+ years when about 30-40% of the 'analysts' feel interest rates will be higher at the end of the year... is it worth the loss of flexibility?

There is a fair-to-good chance of the BoE reducing rates in February or March. A rate change will see a shake-up in which ISAs are the most competitive. The likes of Halifax and Kent who only reduced their ISA rates by .15% after the last base rate cut are now amongst the handful of top rate givers. Best to wait methinks.

Yeh, I last fixed in April last year... got a good rate with derbyshire, will see whats happening for the new tax year isa, if none at or above 5% then will have to go for a floating rate.

Going through the usual suspects, they all seem to have dropped, Kent reliance, Derbyshire, Northern rock, none of them are offering good rates at the moment on fixed isa's