Nationwide Flexclusive ISA - 4.25%, instant access

dip86

Please can someone help?

I've had an isa with santander for a couple of years. Before April this year I called to upgrade this old isa to the 3.3% one.

I was then supposed to transfer last years allowance but forgot - so this has been lost

Anyway I've tried transferring this years £5640 allowance to my santander isa on two occassions from my Nationwide flexaccount but each time the transfer has been rejected by Santander. (I've had another problem with the Santander isa prior to this also, which I won't go into detail about :mad:)

Maybe its all been a blessing in disguise as I'd be better off with Nationwides 4.25% isa. I've applied for this isa over the phone today and apparently I will be able to credit it tomorrow..

Question is - am I allowed to do this? I think so as I haven't actually contibuted anything to this years isa allowance yet. I'm unsure whether I am allowed to have the upgraded santander isa and open a new nationwide isa at the same time? (Obviously I only intend to contribute to the Nationwide one this year)

Edit: Also if as The Enforcer says, they sneakily cut the rate, will I be able to move the lot to the santander isa which is still running in the same year?

The_Enforcer

ejv wrote: »

Though theoretically possible, as its an instant ISA,wouldn't they lose many deposits by transfer-outs and earn bad repute?

If it's possible for them to manipulate the rate in the way I describe, then it's probably more likely that they would cut it to be in the same bracket as the leading instant access ISAs at that time - For instance, at the moment this would be a drop from 2% to 0.75% - 1%, giving a total rate of 3% - 3.25%.

Under those circumstances, I can't imagine many people switching away again, even though NW will be paying out 1% - 1.25% less in interest. If they do cut it by more then they could still retain customers through apathy, particularly given the effort some new customers may have gone through to qualify. Finally, some customers might move savings away, but retain the Flexaccount usage.

thenudeone

dip86 wrote: »

Anyway I've tried transferring this years £5640 allowance to my santander isa on two occassions from my Nationwide flexaccount but each time the transfer has been rejected by Santander.

What do you mean by "rejected"? Has the money been returned?
If you don't contribute to an ISA for 1 tax year, you usually have to refresh / renew it by signing a new ISA declaration, which they should have sent if you tried to put any new money in. It may be in the post to you now. If you put new money in last year you wouldn't need to do this.

dip86 wrote: »

I'd be better off with Nationwides 4.25% isa. I've applied for this isa over the phone today
Question is - am I allowed to do this? I think so as I haven't actually contibuted anything to this years isa allowance yet.

As long as you haven't put any new money into the Santander ISA, you'll be fine. You still have your allowance.

dip86 wrote: »

Edit: Also if as The Enforcer says, they sneakily cut the rate, will I be able to move the lot to the santander isa which is still running in the same year?

Depends on whether the Santander ISA is still available and accepts transfers in at that time.

dip86

thenudeone wrote: »

What do you mean by "rejected"? Has the money been returned?
If you don't contribute to an ISA for 1 tax year, you usually have to refresh / renew it by signing a new ISA declaration, which they should have sent if you tried to put any new money in. It may be in the post to you now. If you put new money in last year you wouldn't need to do this.

You're right, it was returned for that reason the first time - I forgot to use any allowance last year unfortunately. I agreed to the declaration on the phone and sent the money again but from what I can tell Santander have returned it again.

thenudeone wrote: »

Depends on whether the Santander ISA is still available and accepts transfers in at that time.

That sounds like a good backup plan then. I upgraded the Santander isa to 3.3% this March so the old money that was there should be earning interest at that rate for now.

If Nationwide decreases below 3.3% at some point over the next year, I'm definitely allowed to transfer it all to Santander instead?

DragonQ

Has anyone opened this account yet? Would like to know if you can switch your current account to the FlexAccount and open the Flexclusive ISA in a single branch visit.

Nine_Lives

DragonQ wrote: »

Has anyone opened this account yet?

Have you read the thread & all the other ones on this account?

Specifically about those who were at the branch at 9am on Saturday?

rb10

dip86 wrote: »

If Nationwide decreases below 3.3% at some point over the next year, I'm definitely allowed to transfer it all to Santander instead?

Yes, you are.

It's a purely theoretical point, however, as - in my opinion - there is zero chance that they will drop the rate within a year.

It will stay at 4.25% for the duration. In the unlikely event that base rate changes, this account will follow that.

The_Enforcer

dip86 wrote: »

Edit: Also if as The Enforcer says, they sneakily cut the rate, will I be able to move the lot to the santander isa which is still running in the same year?

If anything, the Santander Direct ISA is a more likely candidate to cut the rate from its initial 3.3%, because both the underlying rate of 0.5% and the 2.8% 12-month bonus are variable. I subscribed to their Flexible ISA in 2011/12, but in contrast this had a rate guarantee to track the BoE base rate and not drop below 3.3% for 12 months. This doesn't end until June, so I'm in no hurry to move it to the Direct ISA variant.

irishjohn

Called Nationwide at 8.00am and just come off phone account set up and email confirmation received. Interest earned from today but may take 2 days to complete the admin and transfer money from my flexaccount. Well done Nationwide.

dip86

Ah great thanks for your help guys. Yeah I was thinking staying with could be riskier as its no longer a fixed/guaranteed rate. Whereas nationwide does have an element of security.

If Santander decrease their rate I presume I can transfer this old money into a better isa without it affecting this years status.