Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

nomorekids

ChewyyBacca said:

RG2015 said:

ChewyyBacca said:

SirHugo said:

My Virgin 1 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA Exclusive Issue 4 matured yesterday. It has now been switched to the Easy Access Cash ISA Exclusive Issue 2. I had an email about this on the 16th Jan which said this ISA pays a variable interest rate of 4.76% AER.

However in my app the ISA is showing a rate of just 4.25% AER (and also when I log in online on my Mac). On Virgin Money website the ISA is still advertised as 4.76% so I'm wondering what gives. I'll contact them in the morning, but has anyone else had this problem?

im in the same boat.
Apart from the rate disparity- 4.25% vs 4.76% I have another concern here.

Will VM automatically transfer matured ISA proceeds into ISA Issue 10? or do we have to do it?
Mind you, I already placed request for the ISA transfer, while opening the new issue.

Their maturity process is to convert a fixed ISA into a flexible easy access ISA. I had this for an earlier version and also for this one (Issue 4) today. Hence I now have two easy access issue 2 ISAs. 

There is no part of the maturity that involves a new fixed ISA, which is what I assume you mean by the current Issue 10.

PS: In my opinion it makes more sense to convert into an easy access account rather than locking it into a fixed term account.

Apologies, What I meant was
I had Exclusive Fixed Rate Cash ISA issue 2 maturing on 31 Jan 24
I opened Exclusive Fixed Rate Cash ISA issue 10 on 26 Jan 24 & requested Issue 2 to be transferred in Issue 10

VM has converted Fixed Rate Cash ISA Issue 2 into Easy Access Cash ISA.
Would this money remain in Easy Access until I initiate the transfer of these monies online in the new Fixed Rate Cash ISA issue 10?
Or since I had given VM the transfer request from Issue 2 to Issue 10, they will do it? 
Do I need to call them to remind them?

Chewyybacca I did exactly as you did, maturity instructions for 31st Jan were to transfer Fixed issue 2 proceeds straight into Fixed 5.25% Issue 10 and like you was expecting this to happen on 1st Feb. Like you my isa is showing as Easy Access Flexi 2 4.76% for now but I expect the change to happen automatically in the next few days.

SirHugo

RG2015 said:

My VM Easy Access ISA is now correctly showing a rate of 4.76%

Yes, mine's also showing the correct rate now too. Stand down folks 

RG2015

SirHugo said:

RG2015 said:

My VM Easy Access ISA is now correctly showing a rate of 4.76%

Yes, mine's also showing the correct now too. Stand down folks 

Yes indeed. What is it about this site that makes us paranoid. 

pecunianonolet

Does anyone know what was the top easy access ISA rate when we hit the peak end of last summer? Moneyfacts is great for comparison of current rates but lacks, in my opinion, a function to show historical rates, ideally as a graph. All I can find is "average" and that doesn't really show the development of top rates.

CuparLad

I think it depends on your definition of "Easy Access". According to a Grauniad article, Mansfield offered 5.5% on a Double Access ISA (Post or Branch) account.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2023/nov/11/cash-isas-interest-rates-savings-tax-free

refluxer

pecunianonolet said:

Does anyone know what was the top easy access ISA rate when we hit the peak end of last summer? Moneyfacts is great for comparison of current rates but lacks, in my opinion, a function to show historical rates, ideally as a graph. All I can find is "average" and that doesn't really show the development of top rates.

While fixed rate accounts (both ISA and non-ISA) peaked around August/September last year, easy access cash ISA rates didn't actually peak until the end of the year.

I would imagine that limited access cash ISAs peaked with the 5.5% Mansfield account mentioned above but in terms of 'true' easy access cash ISAs (those without withdrawal restrictions), I think Metro's (at 5.11%) was the highest towards the end of last year, but you could only open it in a branch. Zopa's Smart ISA wasn't far behind at 5.08% and is still currently the highest-paying easy access cash ISA without withdrawal restrictions.

FishInGlass

I requested the transfer from my Fixed Rate ISA 4 into a new ISA10 on maturity via their online mechanism. I them had 4 separate texts between the 17th and 22nd Jan all saying the same that they have my maturity instructions and that it will switch within 5 business days of maturity (7th Feb by my reckoning).

My account has temporarily transferred to a Flexi ISA2, the interest showed up yesterday dated 31st Jan and today I can see the rate is now 4.76%.

Today I also received another text saying it is in progress and that I will see my account has been updated to the new product by Tuesday 6th February.

I agree I can't see why an internal ISA transfer needs to take this long but in this instance I will lose at most approx 0.5% for 6 days. This at least is better than Shawbrook who put my money into a 0.1% easy access ISA whilst the transfer to Virgin was taking place. 

Update Saturday 3rd Feb - money now in shiny new Exc Fixed ISA10 at 5.25% :-)

BigBlueSky

Same here - Got lots and lots of texts saying the same thing.  Just noticed that I am too on the 4.76% account now waiting to be put on the ISA 10.

DJSINGH

Is it possible to open the Virgin Fixed 5.25 isa and fund in the next Tax year? I want to open to secure the rate but cant fund this year. The summary says you can fund up to 30 days after it closes, so assuming it stays open by April, would it be allowed?

flaneurs_lobster

DJSINGH said:

Is it possible to open the Virgin Fixed 5.25 isa and fund in the next Tax year? I want to open to secure the rate but cant fund this year. The summary says you can fund up to 30 days after it closes, so assuming it stays open by April, would it be allowed?

I opened and funded this ISA last month. I too read the phrase 

You can pay money into your ISA as soon as it's opened, right up until 30 days after we stop selling this account.

I also received a SMS stating that I could only add money until a date 30 days after the opening date.

I have no idea if these restrictions are the same thing. I don't know what "stop selling this account" actually means. Does it mean the product generally or my specific instance of it?
 
In any case I doubt if you will be able to open that ISA now and fund it in April.