Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

kjs31

subjecttocontract said:

They have got 15 days (presumably working days) to complete the transfer but hell, I don't expect much would happen if they took 35 days or more to complete. Let's face it, if they took 15 weeks to transfer it the only ones who would suffer would be Metro Bank. Sit back, stop worrying, put your feet up and wait for the confirmation letter to drop thru your letterbox saying it's all done.

I have 30 days (I think) to fund the account. I’m not planning on using this year’s ISA subscription for this account so it’s only the transfer money being credited. I guess I’m concerned that they might close the account after 30 days if the balance is zero leaving my transfer money in the abyss. 

refluxer

kjs31 said:

subjecttocontract said:

They have got 15 days (presumably working days) to complete the transfer but hell, I don't expect much would happen if they took 35 days or more to complete. Let's face it, if they took 15 weeks to transfer it the only ones who would suffer would be Metro Bank. Sit back, stop worrying, put your feet up and wait for the confirmation letter to drop thru your letterbox saying it's all done.

I have 30 days (I think) to fund the account. I’m not planning on using this year’s ISA subscription for this account so it’s only the transfer money being credited. I guess I’m concerned that they might close the account after 30 days if the balance is zero leaving my transfer money in the abyss. 

ISA providers often state that they'll waive the funding window provided a transfer request has at least been received and is therefore in progress, but you'd have to read Metro's T&Cs to see if they do the same.

Paper transfers can sometimes take a good few weeks to complete and I've found that even the big banks and building societies can sometimes take an age to credit the new account, while your money sits in limbo between the two.

subjecttocontract

But Metro pay their interest rate from the date that you instruct them to start the transfer. So money sitting in limbo is of no consequence to the applicant as they are already being paid. Metro are the only losers (& of course their shareholders) when an ISA transfer 'IN' is delayed or takes a long time.

refluxer

subjecttocontract said:

But Metro pay their interest rate from the date that you instruct them to start the transfer. So money sitting in limbo is of no consequence to the applicant as they are already being paid. Metro are the only losers (& of course their shareholders) when an ISA transfer 'IN' is delayed or takes a long time.

Yes - that's true, but the concern expressed in the previous post was about what happens if an ISA transfer extends beyond the funding window for a fixed rate ISA, which is a legitimate concern because not all providers make it clear in their T&Cs what happens in this scenario.

Some people also have huge sums saved in cash ISAs and if they don't have a lot of experience with transfers and the length of time these can often take (when paper-based, especially), it can be unsettling to see that money disappear for a long length of time.

subjecttocontract

refluxer said:

subjecttocontract said:

But Metro pay their interest rate from the date that you instruct them to start the transfer. So money sitting in limbo is of no consequence to the applicant as they are already being paid. Metro are the only losers (& of course their shareholders) when an ISA transfer 'IN' is delayed or takes a long time.

Yes - that's true, but the concern expressed in the previous post was about what happens if an ISA transfer extends beyond the funding window for a fixed rate ISA, which is a legitimate concern because not all providers make it clear in their T&Cs what happens in this scenario.

Some people also have huge sums saved in cash ISAs and if they don't have a lot of experience with transfers and the length of time these can often take (when paper-based, especially), it can be unsettling to see that money disappear for a long length of time.

Yes I understand that but ......the post from kjs31 told us that they had opened a new Metro ISA on 27th November. Principality B/S had transferred the funds to Metro the following day, 28th November......it could hardly have happened any quicker. Therefore the transfer has not been delayed, it's Metro Bank responsibility to progress the transfer and show the credit in the account. If it did exceed the 30 day deadline Metro Bank would likely only have themselves to blame and little or no defence. 

We had 2 ISA transfer this time last year that suffered lengthy delays but there was an intermittant postal strike taking place. There were no issues raised with the transfers even though they exceeded the deadline.

refluxer

Just a heads-up for any existing Leek Building Society members - they currently have some pretty competitive 'existing customer only' fixed rate cash ISAs available to anyone who's had an account with them for the last 12 months or more. These accounts don't feature on the comparison sites (as they're not available to all), so could be easily overlooked.

These are the rates (with the current market leaders in brackets for comparison)...

1 year - 5.50%  (Virgin Money 5.50% - current account holders only) 
2 years - 5.55%  (Zopa 5.07% - transfers-in not allowed)
5 years - 5.00%  (UBL 4.81%)

You can open and manage the ISAs online but Leek don't use the BACs ISA transfer service so if you want to transfer-in, you'll need to download a transfer form and post it off or visit a branch. The deposit field on the online application can be your intended cash deposit or the amount you intend to transfer-in. You get 30 days to fund the accounts.

These rates have been around since October and weren't particularly great at the time, but have become competitive now since rates elsewhere have fallen. I'm actually surprised they're still around - particularly the 2 year rate, as it's so much higher than anything else currently available. If you think you might want to open one of these, I wouldn't hang about.

Bridlington1

refluxer said:

Just a heads-up for any existing Leek Building Society members - they currently have some pretty competitive 'existing customer only' fixed rate cash ISAs available to anyone who's had an account with them for the last 12 months or more. These accounts don't feature on the comparison sites (as they're not available to all), so could be easily overlooked.

These are the rates (with the current market leaders in brackets for comparison)...

1 year - 5.50%  (Virgin Money 5.50% - current account holders only) 
2 years - 5.55%  (Zopa 5.07% - transfers-in not allowed)
5 years - 5.00%  (UBL 4.81%)

You can open and manage the ISAs online but Leek don't use the BACs ISA transfer service so if you want to transfer-in, you'll need to download a transfer form and post it off or visit a branch. The deposit field on the online application can be your intended cash deposit or the amount you intend to transfer-in. You get 30 days to fund the accounts.

These rates have been around since October and weren't particularly great at the time, but have become competitive now since rates elsewhere have fallen. I'm actually surprised they're still around - particularly the 2 year rate, as it's so much higher than anything else currently available. If you think you might want to open one of these, I wouldn't hang about.

They do feature on comparison sites, though they tend to be a bit less prominent than some other accounts. From moneyfacts (go to full search and select "yes" to "existing customer accounts"):

[....]

refluxer

I've just received an email from Zopa stating that they now allow transfers-in from other cash ISAs, which means that their (easy access) Smart ISA @ 5.08% and associated Fixed Term ISA pots are no longer restricted to those who haven't yet made use of their 2023-24 ISA allowance.

I don't currently have an 'Access' ISA pot so I can't make this a specific recommendation or comment on how well it operates (or how efficient transfers are as the option is so new) but the (non-ISA) Smart Saver Primary Access pot works well and payments in and out are really quick. I put my ISA allowance into a 3 year Fixed Term ISA pot back in September which I've had no issues with so far, but I guess I won't be able to provide proper feedback until 2026 ! 

The warning about transfers-in not being allowed does seem to have been removed from their website, but an FAQ still says transfers-in aren't allowed so if you're interested, it might make sense to wait until it becomes official (and isn't just initially limited to existing customers).

As I've mentioned elsewhere, if you are interested in this and are considering opening 'Fixed Term' ISA pots alongside the (Easy) 'Access' pot, then you just need to be aware that Zopa operate their Smart ISA a little differently to other providers in that all ISA pots are considered to be part of the same ISA (you get one reference number) and partial transfers-out are not allowed which means that if you wanted to transfer out in the future, you'd have to transfer out the entire contents of your Smart ISA and so if you had any Fixed Term ISA pots running, you'd have to close them and pay a penalty.

This is only a potential problem if you want to open different combinations of pots though (eg. Access and 1 Year Fixed or a 1 Year Fixed plus a 2 Year Fixed) - if you only wanted to have a single pot going (eg. an Access pot for flexible easy access or a single Fixed Term pot to lock in a particular rate), then this won't be an issue.

sheslookinhot

Leeds Building Society easy access now 5.05%, up from 4.95%.

dlevene

Metro Bank still haven't completed my ISA transfer after 22 days. Having a nightmare with customer service. And now online banking and the app are down. Very worrying.

https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/service-status/