Santander ISA's launch on 8th March

Eponym

tipsychick wrote: »

There must be tens/hundreds of thousands coming off that Halifax Rewards ISA too, me being one of them.

Me too. My Halifax rate expires today and their current offerings are not very impressive! I'm going to ring them and ask them to redesignate it on the phone to their current best rate (they did that for me last year) while I wait to see what everyone will be offering. I have £5000 in Halifax (for the Saver's Prize Draw) and the rest in Santander, but I'm going on holiday for three weeks on 30th March so I really want it all in motion at least before I leave!

tipsychick

Hi Eponym

Just in case you haven't phoned Halifax yet, they're not redesignating over the phone this year, apparently because it's an online product only. They'll ask you to complete a form online to transfer to whichever ISA you choose:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/accounts/cash-isas/ISAoptions/

Fortunately you start earning interest at the new rate from the day you switch. Your account will update overnight and you can see the new rate online the next day.

I did this yesterday, switching to the 1.95% one for a few days while I wait for Santander, etc. to launch this year's products. Everything went without a hitch (for once!) and is showing correctly today.

They've also added the 3% interest for the last year too. Now I just have to reconcile their figures with mine. Needless to say, I was expecting a bit more than they've paid!

dutchism1958

SephirothX wrote: »

How long do such launch rates usually last? I can't fill my current ISA allowance until a couple of weeks time and I wouldn't like to transfer while money is in the middle of being debited.

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Depends on the uptake, but my local branch said it would be available until the end of the month,so I guess it depends on how good it is and what competition it gets

Eponym

tipsychick wrote: »

Hi Eponym

Just in case you haven't phoned Halifax yet, they're not redesignating over the phone this year, apparently because it's an online product only. They'll ask you to complete a form online to transfer to whichever ISA you choose:

http://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/accounts/cash-isas/ISAoptions/

Fortunately you start earning interest at the new rate from the day you switch. Your account will update overnight and you can see the new rate online the next day.

I did this yesterday, switching to the 1.95% one for a few days while I wait for Santander, etc. to launch this year's products. Everything went without a hitch (for once!) and is showing correctly today.

They've also added the 3% interest for the last year too. Now I just have to reconcile their figures with mine. Needless to say, I was expecting a bit more than they've paid!

Thanks a lot! I saw your post in the other thread too; I'll do it tonight. Thanks again!

SephirothX

dutchism1958 wrote: »

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Depends on the uptake, but my local branch said it would be available until the end of the month,so I guess it depends on how good it is and what competition it gets

I see. So how long does it generally take to switch these days? I've not had to do a transfer in about 3 years. I get paid on the 20th and want to put my remaining £560 into my current ISA and then transfer. Or maybe I'd be better off transferring next week and then putting the remainder in once transferred?

jonmcclelland

Interesting to see which competitor releases theirs on Friday.

I've just put into motion moving my funds from Halifax (expiring at 3%) to the Cheshire but you never know what's goign to happen.

dutchism1958

SephirothX wrote: »

I see. So how long does it generally take to switch these days? I've not had to do a transfer in about 3 years. I get paid on the 20th and want to put my remaining £560 into my current ISA and then transfer. Or maybe I'd be better off transferring next week and then putting the remainder in once transferred?

Santander quoted me 7 working days to do the transfer

CashCrammer

I just did a transfer over the phone with Halifax (redesignated it) and was not required to fill in any transfer form.

Legion90

My Santander is also expiring this month which I believe had an easy access interest rate of 3.3%. That seems like it will never be matched given the current low rates due to the government funding for lending scheme but I would be happy if it could reach 3%.

I can't wait until the base rate starts rising again as the poor deal for savers continues!

Andyboy

Wonder what time the news will be out?