Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

RG2015

flobbalobbalob said:

So I've got my "your fixed ISA is maturing soon" email from Virgin. Here are the choices .



As I want an easy access cash ISA, and they don't have one at the moment (apart one for current account holders only), bless them they are doing me a favour by allowing me to take advantage of one that is not available @ 0.10 % AER. While I am flattered to be so special I do want to transfer. My question is do I have to wait for the maturity date to transfer, and hence loose money, or is there some rule/law that allows me to transfer now.

Surprised the EA is so low as VM have a Flexible EA exclusive currently at 4.76% AER. But you do need to have a VM current account.

RG2015

flobbalobbalob said:

Ozzig said:

flobbalobbalob said:

So I've got my "your fixed ISA is maturing soon" email from Virgin. Here are the choices .



As I want an easy access cash ISA, and they don't have one at the moment (apart one for current account holders only), bless them they are doing me a favour by allowing me to take advantage of one that is not available @ 0.10 % AER. While I am flattered to be so special I do want to transfer. My question is do I have to wait for the maturity date to transfer, and hence loose money, or is there some rule/law that allows me to transfer now.

Transfers I've done in the past have given the option to avoid penalty and have waited until the current fixed term ends before transferring.

Thanks, I've checked with Zopa and they offer that. However Zopa want the account number for the transfer but that will change at some point at maturity. Does giving Zopa instructions in advance have any benefit or should I wait till after maturity to avoid any confusion.

I thought VM kept the same account number when converting from a maturing fixed rate ISA.

Also the Zopa Flexible EA ISA is pretty decent at 5.08%

flobbalobbalob

RG2015 said:

flobbalobbalob said:

Ozzig said:

flobbalobbalob said:

So I've got my "your fixed ISA is maturing soon" email from Virgin. Here are the choices .



As I want an easy access cash ISA, and they don't have one at the moment (apart one for current account holders only), bless them they are doing me a favour by allowing me to take advantage of one that is not available @ 0.10 % AER. While I am flattered to be so special I do want to transfer. My question is do I have to wait for the maturity date to transfer, and hence loose money, or is there some rule/law that allows me to transfer now.

Transfers I've done in the past have given the option to avoid penalty and have waited until the current fixed term ends before transferring.

Thanks, I've checked with Zopa and they offer that. However Zopa want the account number for the transfer but that will change at some point at maturity. Does giving Zopa instructions in advance have any benefit or should I wait till after maturity to avoid any confusion.

I thought VM kept the same account number when converting from a maturing fixed rate ISA.

Also the Zopa Flexible EA ISA is pretty decent at 5.08%

Oh, thanks, that explains a lot, I never thought of it keeping the same a/c number.

Ozzig

flobbalobbalob said:

Ozzig said:

flobbalobbalob said:

So I've got my "your fixed ISA is maturing soon" email from Virgin. Here are the choices .



As I want an easy access cash ISA, and they don't have one at the moment (apart one for current account holders only), bless them they are doing me a favour by allowing me to take advantage of one that is not available @ 0.10 % AER. While I am flattered to be so special I do want to transfer. My question is do I have to wait for the maturity date to transfer, and hence loose money, or is there some rule/law that allows me to transfer now.

Transfers I've done in the past have given the option to avoid penalty and have waited until the current fixed term ends before transferring.

Thanks, I've checked with Zopa and they offer that. However Zopa want the account number for the transfer but that will change at some point at maturity. Does giving Zopa instructions in advance have any benefit or should I wait till after maturity to avoid any confusion.

Mine was from Barclays, not sure if the a/c number would have changed at maturity, but I just provided the existing a/c number and it transferred without a hitch.

refluxer

Ozzig said:

Mine was from Barclays, not sure if the a/c number would have changed at maturity, but I just provided the existing a/c number and it transferred without a hitch.

Barclays fixed cash ISA account numbers don't change when allowed to default to their standard easy access ISA option on maturity - I only know this because I've just transferred a matured Barclays fix to OakNorth. 

drphila

Frogletina said:

Rich2808 said:

SickGroove said:

Rich2808 said:

Ysoulsaver said:

Reed_Richards said:

soulsaver said:

Just an option/idea for those looking for a safety net against falling rates:

Lloyds bank 2 year fixed at 4.20% (4.25 for existing customers) allows top ups throughout the term. 

I looked at this account and went so far as to read the Terms and Conditions but I could not find any reference as to whether or when top-ups were allowed.  Can you point me to this, please?

From Cash ISAs - See our ISA interest rates | Lloyds Bank scroll down nearly to bottom right (on PC) just above FSCS bumph, 'Manage your account'; click 'Top Up Your ISA'

and you get to here: Top up your ISA | UK ISAs | Lloyds Bank

Top up your ISA

"Before applying for a new account you should check whether topping up an existing ISA would be more beneficial for you.

Top up your existing ISA online or transfer funds from an ISA held with another provider to maximise your ISA allowance. You can either set up a regular payment, pay in a lump sum or top up as often as you like, up to this year’s tax-free ISA limit. "

Well buried...

I can confirm this - I can still top up my Lloyds fixed rate isas (new money or isa transfers) seven months post opening including in the current (new) tax year. 

It can easily be done online via online banking. The process is very efficient with Lloyds - literally done within 2-3 working days in terms of every transfer I have done including one done just recently when they would have been busy with tax year end transfers/account openings. 

They are a good hedge - in the event rates drop sharply - as you could pay into a two year fixed rate isa opened now up to April 2026. And if rates don't drop - put your new money elsewhere.

So, with this one (I'm an existing Lloyds customer) I can open now with 3K and arrange a transfer in of a previous years oddment cash ISA of 2.5K from Gatehouse....

Then in mid may I can transfer the remaining 17K for 24/25 allowance (if rates elsewhere dropped by then) then in 25/26 if again rates dropped elsewhere, I can still put the full new 20K allowance straight into here, without opening another cash ISA?

Yes - the terms and conditions don't appear to have changed. Lloyds don't actively advertise it - but I can still transfer in/pay in seven months post opening! And have just done one.

I've opened one without paying any money in yet and I was told via chat that there isn't a time limit for paying in the £3000. If this is the case, I'll only pay in if Isa rates get near to 4.25%. I looked online, and it seems that it just needs to be by the end of the first tax year. 

What does this mean exactly, please, - who is specifying the end of the first tax year deadline?

PeskyBlunder

flaneurs_lobster said:

flobbalobbalob said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Applying for the Shawbrook 2yr fix. Application requires a password to be set up but I can't paste from my password manager (nor anywhere else) into the new password field.

Just me? Try another browser other than Chrome?

This is a deal-breaker, I'm not setting up an account that requires me to copy 20 characters 1 by 1 between two screens (twice) (and again on each login?).

Just tried it on Chrome using window11 and cut and paste is working for me (always has done). By the way if you are using KeePass password manager you can also drag and drop the password.

Thanks for that. Edge didn't work either - odd error, cut'n'paste/autofill from Bitwarden works just fine on every other site.

Got it to work/application successful using Chrome on Android phone.

Ctrl-v works also (Firefox on Linux).

Frogletina

drphila said:

Frogletina said:

Rich2808 said:

SickGroove said:

Rich2808 said:

Ysoulsaver said:

Reed_Richards said:

soulsaver said:

Just an option/idea for those looking for a safety net against falling rates:

Lloyds bank 2 year fixed at 4.20% (4.25 for existing customers) allows top ups throughout the term. 

I looked at this account and went so far as to read the Terms and Conditions but I could not find any reference as to whether or when top-ups were allowed.  Can you point me to this, please?

From Cash ISAs - See our ISA interest rates | Lloyds Bank scroll down nearly to bottom right (on PC) just above FSCS bumph, 'Manage your account'; click 'Top Up Your ISA'

and you get to here: Top up your ISA | UK ISAs | Lloyds Bank

Top up your ISA

"Before applying for a new account you should check whether topping up an existing ISA would be more beneficial for you.

Top up your existing ISA online or transfer funds from an ISA held with another provider to maximise your ISA allowance. You can either set up a regular payment, pay in a lump sum or top up as often as you like, up to this year’s tax-free ISA limit. "

Well buried...

I can confirm this - I can still top up my Lloyds fixed rate isas (new money or isa transfers) seven months post opening including in the current (new) tax year. 

It can easily be done online via online banking. The process is very efficient with Lloyds - literally done within 2-3 working days in terms of every transfer I have done including one done just recently when they would have been busy with tax year end transfers/account openings. 

They are a good hedge - in the event rates drop sharply - as you could pay into a two year fixed rate isa opened now up to April 2026. And if rates don't drop - put your new money elsewhere.

So, with this one (I'm an existing Lloyds customer) I can open now with 3K and arrange a transfer in of a previous years oddment cash ISA of 2.5K from Gatehouse....

Then in mid may I can transfer the remaining 17K for 24/25 allowance (if rates elsewhere dropped by then) then in 25/26 if again rates dropped elsewhere, I can still put the full new 20K allowance straight into here, without opening another cash ISA?

Yes - the terms and conditions don't appear to have changed. Lloyds don't actively advertise it - but I can still transfer in/pay in seven months post opening! And have just done one.

I've opened one without paying any money in yet and I was told via chat that there isn't a time limit for paying in the £3000. If this is the case, I'll only pay in if Isa rates get near to 4.25%. I looked online, and it seems that it just needs to be by the end of the first tax year. 

What does this mean exactly, please, - who is specifying the end of the first tax year deadline?

I've looked at the terms and conditions of the lloyds fixed term isas. 

It says that your fixed term starts when you open the isa, even if you don't put money in. It also says you need to make a new application if you don't add money by the end of the tax year.

So I am taking this to mean that I can put money in up to the end of the first tax year. 

I had an email after setting my account up saying it was now open. Just advised me to pay in as soon as I could to make the most of it, but didn't mentioned any dates.

subjecttocontract

Frogletina said:

drphila said:

Frogletina said:

Rich2808 said:

SickGroove said:

Rich2808 said:

Ysoulsaver said:

Reed_Richards said:

soulsaver said:

Just an option/idea for those looking for a safety net against falling rates:

Lloyds bank 2 year fixed at 4.20% (4.25 for existing customers) allows top ups throughout the term. 

I looked at this account and went so far as to read the Terms and Conditions but I could not find any reference as to whether or when top-ups were allowed.  Can you point me to this, please?

From Cash ISAs - See our ISA interest rates | Lloyds Bank scroll down nearly to bottom right (on PC) just above FSCS bumph, 'Manage your account'; click 'Top Up Your ISA'

and you get to here: Top up your ISA | UK ISAs | Lloyds Bank

Top up your ISA

"Before applying for a new account you should check whether topping up an existing ISA would be more beneficial for you.

Top up your existing ISA online or transfer funds from an ISA held with another provider to maximise your ISA allowance. You can either set up a regular payment, pay in a lump sum or top up as often as you like, up to this year’s tax-free ISA limit. "

Well buried...

I can confirm this - I can still top up my Lloyds fixed rate isas (new money or isa transfers) seven months post opening including in the current (new) tax year. 

It can easily be done online via online banking. The process is very efficient with Lloyds - literally done within 2-3 working days in terms of every transfer I have done including one done just recently when they would have been busy with tax year end transfers/account openings. 

They are a good hedge - in the event rates drop sharply - as you could pay into a two year fixed rate isa opened now up to April 2026. And if rates don't drop - put your new money elsewhere.

So, with this one (I'm an existing Lloyds customer) I can open now with 3K and arrange a transfer in of a previous years oddment cash ISA of 2.5K from Gatehouse....

Then in mid may I can transfer the remaining 17K for 24/25 allowance (if rates elsewhere dropped by then) then in 25/26 if again rates dropped elsewhere, I can still put the full new 20K allowance straight into here, without opening another cash ISA?

Yes - the terms and conditions don't appear to have changed. Lloyds don't actively advertise it - but I can still transfer in/pay in seven months post opening! And have just done one.

I've opened one without paying any money in yet and I was told via chat that there isn't a time limit for paying in the £3000. If this is the case, I'll only pay in if Isa rates get near to 4.25%. I looked online, and it seems that it just needs to be by the end of the first tax year. 

What does this mean exactly, please, - who is specifying the end of the first tax year deadline?

I've looked at the terms and conditions of the lloyds fixed term isas. 

It says that your fixed term starts when you open the isa, even if you don't put money in. It also says you need to make a new application if you don't add money by the end of the tax year.

So I am taking this to mean that I can put money in up to the end of the first tax year. 

I had an email after setting my account up saying it was now open. Just advised me to pay in as soon as I could to make the most of it, but didn't mentioned any dates.

It depends on the definition of open. Some places consider the account open as soon as you apply. Ive applied for an Aldermore ISA but so far I......
* Don't have a customer ID.
* Don't have an account number (or a sortcode).
* Can t pay money in / can't withdraw money.
* Can t verify my nominated account for them without the above.
Therefore as far as I'm concerned it ain't open yet !

Frogletina

subjecttocontract said:

Frogletina said:

drphila said:

Frogletina said:

Rich2808 said:

SickGroove said:

Rich2808 said:

Ysoulsaver said:

Reed_Richards said:

soulsaver said:

Just an option/idea for those looking for a safety net against falling rates:

Lloyds bank 2 year fixed at 4.20% (4.25 for existing customers) allows top ups throughout the term. 

I looked at this account and went so far as to read the Terms and Conditions but I could not find any reference as to whether or when top-ups were allowed.  Can you point me to this, please?

From Cash ISAs - See our ISA interest rates | Lloyds Bank scroll down nearly to bottom right (on PC) just above FSCS bumph, 'Manage your account'; click 'Top Up Your ISA'

and you get to here: Top up your ISA | UK ISAs | Lloyds Bank

Top up your ISA

"Before applying for a new account you should check whether topping up an existing ISA would be more beneficial for you.

Top up your existing ISA online or transfer funds from an ISA held with another provider to maximise your ISA allowance. You can either set up a regular payment, pay in a lump sum or top up as often as you like, up to this year’s tax-free ISA limit. "

Well buried...

I can confirm this - I can still top up my Lloyds fixed rate isas (new money or isa transfers) seven months post opening including in the current (new) tax year. 

It can easily be done online via online banking. The process is very efficient with Lloyds - literally done within 2-3 working days in terms of every transfer I have done including one done just recently when they would have been busy with tax year end transfers/account openings. 

They are a good hedge - in the event rates drop sharply - as you could pay into a two year fixed rate isa opened now up to April 2026. And if rates don't drop - put your new money elsewhere.

So, with this one (I'm an existing Lloyds customer) I can open now with 3K and arrange a transfer in of a previous years oddment cash ISA of 2.5K from Gatehouse....

Then in mid may I can transfer the remaining 17K for 24/25 allowance (if rates elsewhere dropped by then) then in 25/26 if again rates dropped elsewhere, I can still put the full new 20K allowance straight into here, without opening another cash ISA?

Yes - the terms and conditions don't appear to have changed. Lloyds don't actively advertise it - but I can still transfer in/pay in seven months post opening! And have just done one.

I've opened one without paying any money in yet and I was told via chat that there isn't a time limit for paying in the £3000. If this is the case, I'll only pay in if Isa rates get near to 4.25%. I looked online, and it seems that it just needs to be by the end of the first tax year. 

What does this mean exactly, please, - who is specifying the end of the first tax year deadline?

I've looked at the terms and conditions of the lloyds fixed term isas. 

It says that your fixed term starts when you open the isa, even if you don't put money in. It also says you need to make a new application if you don't add money by the end of the tax year.

So I am taking this to mean that I can put money in up to the end of the first tax year. 

I had an email after setting my account up saying it was now open. Just advised me to pay in as soon as I could to make the most of it, but didn't mentioned any dates.

It depends on the definition of open. Some places consider the account open as soon as you apply. Ive applied for an Aldermore ISA but so far I......
* Don't have a customer ID.
* Don't have an account number (or a sortcode).
* Can t pay money in / can't withdraw money.
* Can t verify my nominated account for them without the above.
Therefore as far as I'm concerned it ain't open yet !

In the case of my Lloyds ISA, I do have all the details and it is showing on my Lloyds account which I've had for a long time. I've not yet tried to put any money in