Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

masonic

friolento said:

Email from Vida today about their ISA T&Cs changing. Seems they had a review of their rules and are now going full-on flexible. Though they haven't explicitly removed their non-sensical  "must not have current year subscription elsewhere" requirement

I would not be surprised if it turned out their policy was based on some consultancy advice they received before April 2024 and they have now repeated the exercise to update themselves. If they allow partial transfers of current year subscriptions, then they cannot simultaneously require all of your current year subscriptions to be held or transferred to them.

surreysaver

friolento said:

Email from Vida today about their ISA T&Cs changing. Seems they had a review of their rules and are now going full-on flexible. Though they haven't explicitly removed their non-sensical  "must not have current year subscription elsewhere" requirement

It would seem Vida haven't got a Scooby Doo 

Archerychick

surreysaver said:

friolento said:

Email from Vida today about their ISA T&Cs changing. Seems they had a review of their rules and are now going full-on flexible. Though they haven't explicitly removed their non-sensical  "must not have current year subscription elsewhere" requirement

It would seem Vida haven't got a Scooby Doo 

Agree. When I spoke to them earlier this year about my isa transfer to them, they said Isas were very new to them. But it sounds like they’re listening to feedback and adapting so that’s a good thing 

Marvel1

Currently with Virgin, matures 24th July, says:
"If we haven't heard from by 6pm Wednesday 23 July 2025, we’ll move your savings into our Easy Access Online Cash ISA" 1.25%

Found a potiential new ISA with Trading 212, on this site:
"The top rate of 4.98% is currently shared by Trading 212 and Plum – though both pay lower rates if you transfer in from an existing ISA."

Virgin's highest offer is 4.16%

I get from Trading 212 I can't transfer from Virgin to get the highest rate - I have around £11,000 and doubt I will even put in £9000 (not put any in so far since this year) by 5th April 2026, so I will under the limit anyway so not transferring in does not affect me.

Wondering though I do - do I wait until the 24th July to close the Virgin account then open the Trading 212 account or can I do it now?

If I wait, the rate may disappear.

clairec666

Marvel1 said:

Currently with Virgin, matures 24th July, says:
"If we haven't heard from by 6pm Wednesday 23 July 2025, we’ll move your savings into our Easy Access Online Cash ISA" 1.25%

Found a potiential new ISA with Trading 212, on this site:
"The top rate of 4.98% is currently shared by Trading 212 and Plum – though both pay lower rates if you transfer in from an existing ISA."

Virgin's highest offer is 4.16%

I get from Trading 212 I can't transfer from Virgin to get the highest rate - I have around £11,000 and doubt I will even put in £9000 (not put any in so far since this year) by 5th April 2026, so I will under the limit anyway so not transferring in does not affect me.

Wondering though I do - do I wait until the 24th July to close the Virgin account then open the Trading 212 account or can I do it now?

If I wait, the rate may disappear.

You should be able to open the Trading 212 account with a minimal amount just to secure the good interest rate, then pay in the money from Virgin once it matures.

Also worth checking if the Virgin east access is flexible - if it is, it's worth keeping the account open with £1 in it, just in case you get a windfall and could pay the money back in during the tax year. Even if it's not flexible, you could transfer the whole lot to a flexible ISA first, then make the withdrawal. If you think the extra hassle is worth it.

wiseonesomeofthetime

clairec666 said:

Marvel1 said:

Currently with Virgin, matures 24th July, says:
"If we haven't heard from by 6pm Wednesday 23 July 2025, we’ll move your savings into our Easy Access Online Cash ISA" 1.25%

Found a potiential new ISA with Trading 212, on this site:
"The top rate of 4.98% is currently shared by Trading 212 and Plum – though both pay lower rates if you transfer in from an existing ISA."

Virgin's highest offer is 4.16%

I get from Trading 212 I can't transfer from Virgin to get the highest rate - I have around £11,000 and doubt I will even put in £9000 (not put any in so far since this year) by 5th April 2026, so I will under the limit anyway so not transferring in does not affect me.

Wondering though I do - do I wait until the 24th July to close the Virgin account then open the Trading 212 account or can I do it now?

If I wait, the rate may disappear.

You should be able to open the Trading 212 account with a minimal amount just to secure the good interest rate, then pay in the money from Virgin once it matures.

Also worth checking if the Virgin east access is flexible - if it is, it's worth keeping the account open with £1 in it, just in case you get a windfall and could pay the money back in during the tax year. Even if it's not flexible, you could transfer the whole lot to a flexible ISA first, then make the withdrawal. If you think the extra hassle is worth it.

I had a Virgin Money Easy Access Flexible ISA that I wanted to retain, however, when I transferred the funds to Monument, Virgin closed my account!

I was using VM as an intermediary initially, to move money held within Trading212 in chunks to different providers. Of course, only managed to move chunk one before door was shut on me.

So be aware that if initiating a FULL ISA transfer, VM may not allow you to keep the ISA.

surreysaver

clairec666 said:

Marvel1 said:

Currently with Virgin, matures 24th July, says:
"If we haven't heard from by 6pm Wednesday 23 July 2025, we’ll move your savings into our Easy Access Online Cash ISA" 1.25%

Found a potiential new ISA with Trading 212, on this site:
"The top rate of 4.98% is currently shared by Trading 212 and Plum – though both pay lower rates if you transfer in from an existing ISA."

Virgin's highest offer is 4.16%

I get from Trading 212 I can't transfer from Virgin to get the highest rate - I have around £11,000 and doubt I will even put in £9000 (not put any in so far since this year) by 5th April 2026, so I will under the limit anyway so not transferring in does not affect me.

Wondering though I do - do I wait until the 24th July to close the Virgin account then open the Trading 212 account or can I do it now?

If I wait, the rate may disappear.

You should be able to open the Trading 212 account with a minimal amount just to secure the good interest rate, then pay in the money from Virgin once it matures.

No no no no. You do not pay the money in, you arrange an ISA transfer. If you pay the money in and not a transfer, you reduce your ISA subscription allowance for this tax year by the amount you've paid in.

Kim_13

Marvel1 said:

Currently with Virgin, matures 24th July, says:
"If we haven't heard from by 6pm Wednesday 23 July 2025, we’ll move your savings into our Easy Access Online Cash ISA" 1.25%

Found a potiential new ISA with Trading 212, on this site:
"The top rate of 4.98% is currently shared by Trading 212 and Plum – though both pay lower rates if you transfer in from an existing ISA."

Virgin's highest offer is 4.16%

I get from Trading 212 I can't transfer from Virgin to get the highest rate - I have around £11,000 and doubt I will even put in £9000 (not put any in so far since this year) by 5th April 2026, so I will under the limit anyway so not transferring in does not affect me.

Wondering though I do - do I wait until the 24th July to close the Virgin account then open the Trading 212 account or can I do it now?

If I wait, the rate may disappear.

Yes - do not do anything with the Virgin account before it is showing as an Easy Access ISA. As suggested by another poster, open the T212 with £1 or whatever the minimum is to secure the rate and retain that option. Failure to serve out the whole term of the Virgin ISA will lead to them applying an interest penalty. It's a flat 90 days or whatever is in the terms for your ISA, not how many days early you withdraw. So it can be a not inconsiderable amount of money in a penalty that would be disproportionate at this point as you only have two weeks to go.

Marvel1

surreysaver said:

clairec666 said:

Marvel1 said:

Currently with Virgin, matures 24th July, says:
"If we haven't heard from by 6pm Wednesday 23 July 2025, we’ll move your savings into our Easy Access Online Cash ISA" 1.25%

Found a potiential new ISA with Trading 212, on this site:
"The top rate of 4.98% is currently shared by Trading 212 and Plum – though both pay lower rates if you transfer in from an existing ISA."

Virgin's highest offer is 4.16%

I get from Trading 212 I can't transfer from Virgin to get the highest rate - I have around £11,000 and doubt I will even put in £9000 (not put any in so far since this year) by 5th April 2026, so I will under the limit anyway so not transferring in does not affect me.

Wondering though I do - do I wait until the 24th July to close the Virgin account then open the Trading 212 account or can I do it now?

If I wait, the rate may disappear.

You should be able to open the Trading 212 account with a minimal amount just to secure the good interest rate, then pay in the money from Virgin once it matures.

No no no no. You do not pay the money in, you arrange an ISA transfer. If you pay the money in and not a transfer, you reduce your ISA subscription allowance for this tax year by the amount you've paid in.

But to get the Trading 212 best rate, it says not to transfer, or am I mis-reading?

Kim_13

surreysaver said:

clairec666 said:

Marvel1 said:

Currently with Virgin, matures 24th July, says:
"If we haven't heard from by 6pm Wednesday 23 July 2025, we’ll move your savings into our Easy Access Online Cash ISA" 1.25%

Found a potiential new ISA with Trading 212, on this site:
"The top rate of 4.98% is currently shared by Trading 212 and Plum – though both pay lower rates if you transfer in from an existing ISA."

Virgin's highest offer is 4.16%

I get from Trading 212 I can't transfer from Virgin to get the highest rate - I have around £11,000 and doubt I will even put in £9000 (not put any in so far since this year) by 5th April 2026, so I will under the limit anyway so not transferring in does not affect me.

Wondering though I do - do I wait until the 24th July to close the Virgin account then open the Trading 212 account or can I do it now?

If I wait, the rate may disappear.

You should be able to open the Trading 212 account with a minimal amount just to secure the good interest rate, then pay in the money from Virgin once it matures.

No no no no. You do not pay the money in, you arrange an ISA transfer. If you pay the money in and not a transfer, you reduce your ISA subscription allowance for this tax year by the amount you've paid in.

It's clear from their post that OP is aware of the ISA transfer procedure and is considering this only because they do not think they will need their 25/26 ISA allowance, and the provider are paying a higher rate for new money than transfers. As a result it's not an inherently terrible course of action, but comes with the risk that T212 could drop the rate in the near future. Then the only option would be transfers, despite T212 not being the only provider who operate in this way.

The leave £1 in the Virgin Easy Access the account rolls into that is good advice, if it is flexible. That takes some of the downside out of having used allowance with old money. If that ISA isn't flexible, you could transfer to one that is (with Virgin or another provider) and then go to T212 from there.