Santander 3.3%/3.5% Flexible ISA i3

Brewerspride

I was advised it was best to make an appointment, especially if your local branch is a small one. My branch is fully booked up until the end of next week.

Dasa

penguin74 wrote: »

I know that santander wont allow isa transfers is there anything stopping me closing my old one putting the cash into my current account then transferring that into santanders isa.

Once you close the account you cannot then put it into a new one,if you have already used that years allowance or intend to, it has to be a transfer from one ISA to another. I have just transferred out of my ISA from an old account with Santander into one with them at 3%, and have also taken out a new one for last tax year at 3.5% with that years allowance.

penguin74

I closed one the other year and had the cash put straight into my current account is this not allowed anymore.

blueberrypie

penguin74 wrote: »

I know that santander wont allow isa transfers is there anything stopping me closing my old one putting the cash into my current account then transferring that into santanders isa.

If you do this, you will be using up your 2011/12 ISA allowance.

If you transfer to another ISA - one which accepts transfers-in - you can continue to earn tax-free interest on the money you have already saved *and* you can continue to save new money over the next 12 months.

Baldur

penguin74 wrote: »

I closed one the other year and had the cash put straight into my current account is this not allowed anymore.

It's not that it's not allowed, as soon as you withdraw funds from an ISA, you lose the ongoing tax-free status of those funds.

If you transfer the funds to another ISA that accepts ISA transfers, your capital and any accrued interest remains tax-free for as long as the ISA scheme lasts.

Many of us will have ISA funds which have continued to earn tax-free interest from when the scheme started in 1999, so probably around £70,000 in total.

Dasa

penguin74 wrote: »

I closed one the other year and had the cash put straight into my current account is this not allowed anymore.

Yes but as others have said if you do this it is treated as a completely new ISA and will count towards the allowance for the current tax year.Better if you can afford it to transfer to another ISA with a better rate and take out another one with this years allowance as well.

Wail

With the 3.3% account, can I drip feed money in over the year or have I got to commit all of the cash that I am going to put in in one transaction (for example, I might put a grand in now and then follow it up with additional batches of money as the year progresses).

Baldur

Wail wrote: »

............(for example, I might put a grand in now and then follow it up with additional batches of money as the year progresses).

That's fine - as it says, it's a 'Flexible' Cash ISA.

davidlizard

I opened a Flexible ISA with what was then Alliance and Leicester back in April 2010, and it currently has just over 5k in it.

I want to take advantage of their Flexible ISA again this year and put another £5k in.

However, concerning interest: Do I get the 3.3% on the full £10k this year, or will it just be on the £5k I have deposited this month, with the £5k deposited last year getting just a minimal amount of interest?

Munro_Bagger

ultrawomble wrote: »

Thanks for the info. I also want the account for this tax-year. I guess I'll have to wait for a few more days

Just wanted to let you know (and any others out there still waiting for a response from Santander) that I did indeed visit a branch today.

On 24/03/11, I made an online application for their ISA, because I wanted to be ready for the new tax year. On 31/03/11 I chased Customer Services asking for progress and on 05/04/11 they told me to 'visit a branch, present your ID etc and your reference number'. As I've never held an account with them, I went in, armed with;

- ID & deposit
- online ISA application reference number (started with the letters 'OLA')
- screen print showing the summary page of my ISA application
- copy of the email dated 05/04/11 I received from Customer Services.

The cashier couldn't find an account in my name, despite all the infomation I provided. In the end, a very helpful member of staff sat down with me. He suggested that my application might not have been processed because I applied before 5th April, and so the system believed I wanted the ISA for the 2010/11 year. Because I hadn't been in to provide my ID and activate the account by 5th April, my application had been cancelled.

He was very apologetic and went through the application process with me there and then. I now have an account number and should receive my cashcard shortly. Once I have that, I can register for online banking.

So, a word of warning really. If you made an online application before 5th April as a new customer, with the intention of using it for this tax year, and you haven't received a response from Santander yet, I'd either contact customer services or go into a branch as I did. You may have to make an appointment and go through the ISA application again (or you may be very lucky, and it all went very smoothly online!). Whilst I can't fault the guy that dealt with me today, Santander's overall approach to customer service hasn't impressed me.