Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

soulsaver

Bullet #3 in terms:
"Please note that the Bank reserves the right to withdraw this product at any time. If the product is withdrawn, you can continue to put more money into your account until the expiry of the fixed term"
1-year-fixed-rate-cash-isa-bond-89.pdf (shawbrook.co.uk)

intalex

Anyone with a Barclays ISA know how to view how much of the £20k annual ISA allowance for the current tax year has already been used up with contributions, and so how much is left?

The funds were transferred in from another ISA elsewhere, and on the Barclays app it just shows a single transaction with no breakdown of current year ISA allowance mentioned anywhere else.

refluxer

intalex said:

Anyone with a Barclays ISA know how to view how much of the £20k annual ISA allowance for the current tax year has already been used up with contributions, and so how much is left?

The funds were transferred in from another ISA elsewhere, and on the Barclays app it just shows a single transaction with no breakdown of current year ISA allowance mentioned anywhere else.

Barclays don't seem to provide that kind of information and even if they did, I think they would only provide a figure based on new subscriptions you'd paid into that particular Barclays ISA since it was opened - they would have no way of knowing what you'd paid into the ISA you'd transferred in previously because, AFAIK, banks don't share this kind of information - it's up to you to keep records. If they did provide this info and the account was solely funded with a transfer, I think it would (incorrectly) state you had £20k left of your current allowance and so wouldn't be any use to you anyway.

To work out what you have remaining, I guess you'll have to look back through your records and add up the subscriptions you'd paid into the previous ISA since 6th April 2023.

intalex

refluxer said:

Barclays don't seem to provide that kind of information and even if they did, I think they would only provide a figure based on new subscriptions you'd paid into that particular Barclays ISA since it was opened - they would have no way of knowing what you'd paid into the ISA you'd transferred in previously because, AFAIK, banks don't share this kind of information - it's up to you to keep records. If they did provide this info and the account was solely funded with a transfer, I think it would (incorrectly) state you had £20k left of your current allowance and so wouldn't be any use to you anyway.

To work out what you have remaining, I guess you'll have to look back through your records and add up the subscriptions you'd paid into the previous ISA since 6th April 2023.

I've had ISAs aplenty and transferred more than a few too, and every time the current year contributions portion is also communicated to the new provider when sending the funds - I believe it's a mandatory part of the ISA transfer. The difference is easy transparency of current year ISA allowance utilisation on their app - even some of the "smaller" institutions make visible the current year allowance utilisation in some form (text and/or graphic), but I guess Barclays may be a bit backward in this (or maybe someone can point me on how to view this).

refluxer

intalex said:

refluxer said:

Barclays don't seem to provide that kind of information and even if they did, I think they would only provide a figure based on new subscriptions you'd paid into that particular Barclays ISA since it was opened - they would have no way of knowing what you'd paid into the ISA you'd transferred in previously because, AFAIK, banks don't share this kind of information - it's up to you to keep records. If they did provide this info and the account was solely funded with a transfer, I think it would (incorrectly) state you had £20k left of your current allowance and so wouldn't be any use to you anyway.

To work out what you have remaining, I guess you'll have to look back through your records and add up the subscriptions you'd paid into the previous ISA since 6th April 2023.

I've had ISAs aplenty and transferred more than a few too, and every time the current year contributions portion is also communicated to the new provider when sending the funds - I believe it's a mandatory part of the ISA transfer. The difference is easy transparency of current year ISA allowance utilisation on their app - even some of the "smaller" institutions make visible the current year allowance utilisation in some form (text and/or graphic), but I guess Barclays may be a bit backward in this (or maybe someone can point me on how to view this).

Ah OK, I stand corrected - I was just going from what I'd read in the forum previously, as I don't have a lot of personal experience with doing these kinds of (same tax year) transfers. I tend to stick to fixed rate ISAs so have only transferred current tax year easy access ISA funds within the same tax year once or twice in the past.

Qyburn

2010 said:

Shawbrook have a 1yr fixed ISA at 5.03%, but nowhere can I see how long you have got to fund it or if you can still fund it after it is NLA.

Shawbrook's previous fixed ISA allowed deposits thoughout the term.

10_66

Should funds from a transferred out Cash ISA be credited to a new transferred in Cash ISA showing the same date that funds left the old transferred out Cash ISA, or is it only if the transfer takes more than 15 days that you should be compensated for loss of interest during a transfer please?

Steve_xx

If you transferred into Metro Bank it could be a month difference. Mine was!

gwapenut

Usually funds are backdated to the date that the funds left the donor account, whether by electronic transfer or by cheque.

But there are a few exceptions to this, for example:

1. Nationwide will pay you interest from the date you request your ISA transfer
2. Chorley (and maybe some others?) word their T&Cs to greedily allow them to sit on your money for a few days after receipt before paying interest
3. If the ISA transfer is by cheque, and the cheque becomes lost in the post and is reissued after a period of several weeks, then the interest is only backdated to the date of the second cheque. While this means you still don't lose any interest in the donor account, it could be frustrating if that account is a maturity one paying you virtually no interest. If it turns out that the first cheque was merely delayed, throwing a cancelled cheque into the mix complicates the situation further. 

With the state of the royal mail these days, I'm limiting my ISA search to (a) electronic only, (b) Not Virgin or Natwest, to save myself a world of pain and (c) preferably flexible. Not many of the top 10 ISAs satisfy all of these criteria, but Zopa does. A few banks have PDF lists of electronic ISA providers, but these are out of date (eg Zopa is not listed). An up-to-date list can often be seen when trying a dummy transfer in to providers such as Skipton, Yorkshire and Coventry, who will tell you for certain providers that you need to complete a paper form.

I will elaborate on the "world of pain" comments. I've had a few issues with Barclays over the years, but complaints have always been resolved within a week or two at most, intelligently and with suitable compensation. I therefore still feel in control. Both Virgin and Natwest have messed up big time, not just for me, and the complaints process has been frustrating, unintelligent, and slow. In the case of Virgin 18 months ago, they took a full 6 months to even allocate my complaint to a handler, meaning my money could have been left in limbo for that entire time. This makes me feel powerless and not in control of my own money, which is a shame because their rates are consistently table topping.

Aidanmc

10_66 said:

Should funds from a transferred out Cash ISA be credited to a new transferred in Cash ISA showing the same date that funds left the old transferred out Cash ISA, or is it only if the transfer takes more than 15 days that you should be compensated for loss of interest during a transfer please?

I transferred an ISA from YBS to WestBrom, the payment left YBS on Friday 8th and showing/dated on West Brom Monday 11th. Would most find this acceptable or maybe should be queried?