Cash ISAs: The Best Currently Available List

badger09

NatWest & RBS I year FRISA 4.2%

I must be missing something. What is the significance of ‘Start Date 12th November?’ 

flaneurs_lobster

badger09 said:

NatWest & RBS I year FRISA 4.2%

I must be missing something. What is the significance of ‘Start Date 12th November?’ 

Think it just means it's the start of the 12 month fixed period, no other significance I can see.

badger09

flaneurs_lobster said:

badger09 said:

NatWest & RBS I year FRISA 4.2%

I must be missing something. What is the significance of ‘Start Date 12th November?’ 

Think it just means it's the start of the 12 month fixed period, no other significance I can see.

Thanks. 

I’m probably being cynical but I have a vague memory of a savings provider paying a much lower rate of interest between opening & ‘Start date’. 

Murielson

Have been looking at 5 year fixed rate cash ISA at 4.21% which is with Chetwood Bank via Hargreaves Lansdowne

Happy to commit £20k for the 5 years but just wondered if anyone can see any down side as seen some comments about only doing cash ISA direct with provider. £4.5k interest seems best about just now, assuming interest rates will likely not be going up again the near future

allegro120

Murielson said:

Have been looking at 5 year fixed rate cash ISA at 4.21% which is with Chetwood Bank via Hargreaves Lansdowne

Happy to commit £20k for the 5 years but just wondered if anyone can see any down side as seen some comments about only doing cash ISA direct with provider. £4.5k interest seems best about just now, assuming interest rates will likely not be going up again the near future

Providing HG ISA has FSCS protection, doing it through broker wouldn't have much impact on 5y fixed, it could slow down transactions but you will have only two to do. 

Downside could be the interest rates going up.  We can assume that the rates are likely to be falling in near future, but nobody knows what they will be in a couple of years' time.

hellopaul

On the recommendation of Moneysavingexpert, I opened a Trading 212 cash ISA account. OMG - the ID check system they use (Onfido - read reviews here: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/onfido.com ) is SO terrible, buggy and rubbish, that it took DAYS of hassle to get through it - their site just kept crashing and kept asking for the same things over and over again...and just a couple of weeks ago I'd gone through exactly the same process for a solicitor's firm I was using, but with a different ID check company, and it all worked perfectly, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with the process. I finally managed to jump through the hoops by installing their app, and doing everything a few more times.

So unless you're pretty tech-savvy, and have a LOT of spare time, I'd recommend giving trading 212 a miss.

Interestingly, their app itself seems to have ZERO security on it - it's the only banking app that I can just load up, and it doesn't ask for a password/fingerprint/PIN...NOTHING! So I'll be uninstalling that as soon as I've put some funds in there (I've transferred TWO £10 payments from my current account...neither of which have actually made it there yet - one was a few days ago, and there's no record of the £10 actually leaving my current account, so I guess that one just didn't happen, and I did the other one only half an hour ago...I guess the valves, cogs and levers in ye olde crappe trading 212 system are just warming up). So I have zero faith in this company - does anyone else have any experience of them - is it just an elaborate scam? It certainly feels like one - and not a very convincing one at that! I'll probably just close the account and go elsewhere, which is a shame because that interest rate is tempting...but then again, so were Charles Ponzi's rates.

Malchester

hellopaul said:

On the recommendation of Moneysavingexpert, I opened a Trading 212 cash ISA account. 

Genuine question. Do MSE actually recommend accounts? Or is it just from the comparison list of accounts? I've seen people say on here that MSE recommended an account. I never use MSE account comparison as I find Moneyfactscompare far superior.

pecunianonolet

hellopaul said:

On the recommendation of Moneysavingexpert, I opened a Trading 212 cash ISA account. OMG - the ID check system they use (Onfido - read reviews here: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/onfido.com ) is SO terrible, buggy and rubbish, that it took DAYS of hassle to get through it - their site just kept crashing and kept asking for the same things over and over again...and just a couple of weeks ago I'd gone through exactly the same process for a solicitor's firm I was using, but with a different ID check company, and it all worked perfectly, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with the process. I finally managed to jump through the hoops by installing their app, and doing everything a few more times.

So unless you're pretty tech-savvy, and have a LOT of spare time, I'd recommend giving trading 212 a miss.

Interestingly, their app itself seems to have ZERO security on it - it's the only banking app that I can just load up, and it doesn't ask for a password/fingerprint/PIN...NOTHING! So I'll be uninstalling that as soon as I've put some funds in there (I've transferred TWO £10 payments from my current account...neither of which have actually made it there yet - one was a few days ago, and there's no record of the £10 actually leaving my current account, so I guess that one just didn't happen, and I did the other one only half an hour ago...I guess the valves, cogs and levers in ye olde crappe trading 212 system are just warming up). So I have zero faith in this company - does anyone else have any experience of them - is it just an elaborate scam? It certainly feels like one - and not a very convincing one at that! I'll probably just close the account and go elsewhere, which is a shame because that interest rate is tempting...but then again, so were Charles Ponzi's rates.

You can set all this in the app, biometrics, two factor authentication, etc. I referred a few people over the last year for free shares and nobody, within and outside of the UK, had any problems with ID verification. Maybe they changed the ID verification vendor since but other than that I can't fault them.

Gambler

hellopaul said:

On the recommendation of Moneysavingexpert, I opened a Trading 212 cash ISA account. OMG - the ID check system they use (Onfido - read reviews here: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/onfido.com ) is SO terrible, buggy and rubbish, that it took DAYS of hassle to get through it - their site just kept crashing and kept asking for the same things over and over again...and just a couple of weeks ago I'd gone through exactly the same process for a solicitor's firm I was using, but with a different ID check company, and it all worked perfectly, so it's not like I'm unfamiliar with the process. I finally managed to jump through the hoops by installing their app, and doing everything a few more times.

So unless you're pretty tech-savvy, and have a LOT of spare time, I'd recommend giving trading 212 a miss.

Interestingly, their app itself seems to have ZERO security on it - it's the only banking app that I can just load up, and it doesn't ask for a password/fingerprint/PIN...NOTHING! So I'll be uninstalling that as soon as I've put some funds in there (I've transferred TWO £10 payments from my current account...neither of which have actually made it there yet - one was a few days ago, and there's no record of the £10 actually leaving my current account, so I guess that one just didn't happen, and I did the other one only half an hour ago...I guess the valves, cogs and levers in ye olde crappe trading 212 system are just warming up). So I have zero faith in this company - does anyone else have any experience of them - is it just an elaborate scam? It certainly feels like one - and not a very convincing one at that! I'll probably just close the account and go elsewhere, which is a shame because that interest rate is tempting...but then again, so were Charles Ponzi's rates.

How did you transfer the £10's?

You need to do it from the APP. If you transfer from your bank it's not instant. I made that mistake on one occasion.

OrangeBlueGreen

Malchester said:

hellopaul said:

On the recommendation of Moneysavingexpert, I opened a Trading 212 cash ISA account. 

Genuine question. Do MSE actually recommend accounts? Or is it just from the comparison list of accounts? I've seen people say on here that MSE recommended an account. I never use MSE account comparison as I find Moneyfactscompare far superior.

I think it's just a figure of speech and ultimately we make our own decisions as to whether we want to open/do X based on the MSE info. I know it's very subjective but I've always thought it's a bit of a blurry line as to what is "We MSE are just saying this is worthy of your consideration" and "you should do this". Whilst we decide ourselves, it definitely influences actions and I can see why some people see it as a recommendation when I personally do not see it as that. I see it more as a "direct your research towards...".

It's a bit like when people talk about MSE advice and it's more of a nuance of "advising to have a look at" rather than "advising to open/do X". I imagine a lot of people take MSE info as an instruction which of course they are free to do. If MSE were a person, I think it would be considered an influencer. You have to be careful as some stuff gets MSE a commission and I personally think it could be a little clearer or made more obvious.