Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

pecunianonolet

Email from Zopa



Link to information pack:
Smart ISA Bonus Savings Rate - Zopa

refluxer

kjs31 said:

My Metrobank ISA transfer finally hit my new fixed rate account. It took 30 working days instead of 15. The transaction date says 12th January. How can I ascertain that I have been earning interest on the money since 27th November when I applied for the transfer? 

Presuming that your transfer was carried out by post/cheque, the small building society I've just arranged an ISA transfer to in that way ensured there was no loss of interest by back-dating the date the money was credited to the new ISA to the date the funds left the sending bank (ie. the date of the cheque).

If Metro haven't back-dated the credit date in the same way and the amount credited is the same as the closing balance of the previous ISA (and they haven't made a small, addition payment upfront to cover interest earned during the transfer period), then it looks to me like you might have lost out ? 

What was the closing date of the old ISA ?

pecunianonolet

Metro EA ISA 5.11% now NLA and down to 4.51%

sheslookinhot

Principality and Leeds both at 5%

andyhicks88

Can you open another new ISA even if you already have one for this tax year but just not pay into it until the new one?  Only I'm looking at the Shawbrook Fixed ISA which allows continued deposits and that might be a way to secure a decent rate ready for me to start paying in in April?

refluxer

andyhicks88 said:

Can you open another new ISA even if you already have one for this tax year but just not pay into it until the new one?  Only I'm looking at the Shawbrook Fixed ISA which allows continued deposits and that might be a way to secure a decent rate ready for me to start paying in in April?

The minimum opening balance for a Shawbrook fixed rate ISA is £1,000 and there is likely to be an initial funding window (usually anything up to 1 month) during which the account will need to receive either that amount as a cash deposit or a transfer-in request from another ISA*, otherwise it'll be closed. 

In practical terms, this means that you can't usually open a fixed rate ISA that you intend to fund with next year's allowance (and leave unfunded until then) more than a month (or whatever funding window the provider allows) before April 6th. 

*some ISA providers only allow transfer requests to be submitted at the time of account opening.

pecunianonolet

andyhicks88 said:

Can you open another new ISA even if you already have one for this tax year but just not pay into it until the new one?  Only I'm looking at the Shawbrook Fixed ISA which allows continued deposits and that might be a way to secure a decent rate ready for me to start paying in in April?

You can open a Virgin ISA, if you have a current account with them, and minimum opening balance is £0

Not the most attractive rate but who knows what rates will be like on 6th April. 

https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/products/easy_access_cash_isa_exclusive_issue_2/

I opened it, go the letter by post confirming the account being open and the rate but it is sitting with £0 since without issue. 

The other option would be the Zopa ISA pot but it's not fully clear if the rate is secured or not if no funding is received and the account is actually fully open. Some chat about it a few pages back.

Remember, ISA rules change from 6th April so you are no longer limited to subscribe only to one ISA in any given tax year.

Zaul22

It generally doesn't seem to be possible. Even Zopa technically has a £1 minimum. Although you could probably risk it and hope HMRC don't care about a £1 'mistake'. 

pecunianonolet

Zaul22 said:

It generally doesn't seem to be possible. Even Zopa technically has a £1 minimum. Although you could probably risk it and hope HMRC don't care about a £1 'mistake'. 

https://www.zopa.com/help/article/does-the-smart-isa-have-a-minimum-deposit

"For Access ISA pots, there's no minimum deposit."

refluxer

@andyhicks88 wants to secure a fixed rate ISA at current rates but fund it with the next tax year's ISA allowance - opening an easy access ISA (with variable interest rate) doesn't help in this scenario.