Tell us you cash ISA questions

Aceace

eskbanker said:

Grahame151 said:

Can I transfer a one year fixed term cash isa if rates alter and I am better off moving or does that only apply to variable rate ISA's

Transfers of fixed term products are permitted - as with any other ISA transfer, initiate it via the receiving provider's transfer process....

It's important to note that you can't normally transfer a fixed term ISA until it matures. Those that do allow transfers during the term will usually charge a penalty fee.

eskbanker

Aceace said:

eskbanker said:

Grahame151 said:

Can I transfer a one year fixed term cash isa if rates alter and I am better off moving or does that only apply to variable rate ISA's

Transfers of fixed term products are permitted - as with any other ISA transfer, initiate it via the receiving provider's transfer process....

It's important to note that you can't normally transfer a fixed term ISA until it matures. Those that do allow transfers during the term will usually charge a penalty fee.

No, ISA regulations require that the money within any adult ISA must always be accessible, so the contents of fixed term ISAs, unlike their taxable equivalents, can be withdrawn (including by transfer) at any time, although as you say, penalties will typically be applied if doing so during the fixed term.

gtmoon

I wonder with the products tracking MSE does, is it possible or easy for you to publish the historical interest rate by products. For example, Easy Cash ISA, Fixed 1yr Cash ISA, over time, which is the best product (provider, rate offered, date started, date ended)? Or someone else already does that widely available to view?

eskbanker

gtmoon said:

I wonder with the products tracking MSE does, is it possible or easy for you to publish the historical interest rate by products. For example, Easy Cash ISA, Fixed 1yr Cash ISA, over time, which is the best product (provider, rate offered, date started, date ended)? Or someone else already does that widely available to view?

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

gtmoon

eskbanker said:

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

Thanks, that is really useful. I am thinking of something that is more accessible, as a landing page within MSE to allow people to select the product. If the data already stored, it should be simple query to fetch the data and present it in a table for easy of consumption. Maybe it is already development?

masonic

gtmoon said:

eskbanker said:

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

Thanks, that is really useful. I am thinking of something that is more accessible, as a landing page within MSE to allow people to select the product. If the data already stored, it should be simple query to fetch the data and present it in a table for easy of consumption. Maybe it is already development?

The data will be owned by MoneySupermarket, who own MSE. You could ask, but I doubt they would give you the data for free, or at all, even if they have mined the data and stored it in a table.

eskbanker

masonic said:

gtmoon said:

eskbanker said:

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

Thanks, that is really useful. I am thinking of something that is more accessible, as a landing page within MSE to allow people to select the product. If the data already stored, it should be simple query to fetch the data and present it in a table for easy of consumption. Maybe it is already development?

The data will be owned by MoneySupermarket, who own MSE. You could ask, but I doubt they would give you the data for free, or at all, even if they have mined the data and stored it in a table.

Agreed - I can't think of any reason why such data should have been organised into structured form for storage in a database and would strongly suspect that it's only ever been in free text form.  Likewise I can't really see any value in analysing it over time, given changing environments, such as the PSA introduction in 2016 and the consequent reduced appeal of cash ISAs, as well as providers coming and going.

OP - what sort of queries would you anticipate applying to such data if it was stored in structured form, and to what end?

gtmoon

masonic said:

gtmoon said:

eskbanker said:

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

Thanks, that is really useful. I am thinking of something that is more accessible, as a landing page within MSE to allow people to select the product. If the data already stored, it should be simple query to fetch the data and present it in a table for easy of consumption. Maybe it is already development?

The data will be owned by MoneySupermarket, who own MSE. You could ask, but I doubt they would give you the data for free, or at all, even if they have mined the data and stored it in a table.

I mean they can create a tool, like others tools on MSE, for public to use, query historical best rate/product to make better (investment) decision. This will in turn drive up traffic, they can monetise that or other ways.

How to put this request through? I am pretty sure such thing must exists.

eskbanker

gtmoon said:

masonic said:

gtmoon said:

eskbanker said:

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

Thanks, that is really useful. I am thinking of something that is more accessible, as a landing page within MSE to allow people to select the product. If the data already stored, it should be simple query to fetch the data and present it in a table for easy of consumption. Maybe it is already development?

The data will be owned by MoneySupermarket, who own MSE. You could ask, but I doubt they would give you the data for free, or at all, even if they have mined the data and stored it in a table.

I mean they can create a tool, like others tools on MSE, for public to use, query historical best rate/product to make better (investment) decision. This will in turn drive up traffic, they can monetise that or other ways.

How to put this request through? I am pretty sure such thing must exists.

How would querying historical data about savings accounts improve future decisions?

I'm unconvinced that such a thing exists, but if you feel the need to suggest it, contact details are at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/site-contacts/

masonic

eskbanker said:

masonic said:

gtmoon said:

eskbanker said:

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

Thanks, that is really useful. I am thinking of something that is more accessible, as a landing page within MSE to allow people to select the product. If the data already stored, it should be simple query to fetch the data and present it in a table for easy of consumption. Maybe it is already development?

The data will be owned by MoneySupermarket, who own MSE. You could ask, but I doubt they would give you the data for free, or at all, even if they have mined the data and stored it in a table.

Agreed - I can't think of any reason why such data should have been organised into structured form for storage in a database and would strongly suspect that it's only ever been in free text form.  Likewise I can't really see any value in analysing it over time, given changing environments, such as the PSA introduction in 2016 and the consequent reduced appeal of cash ISAs, as well as providers coming and going.

OP - what sort of queries would you anticipate applying to such data if it was stored in structured form, and to what end?

The data has been mined and put together in structured form, albeit not by MSE as far as I'm aware. The most significant use of this data was by BBC Money Box presenter Paul Lewis, when trying to substantiate his view that "active cash" can be better than S&S investments, see https://paullewismoney.blogspot.com/2016/06/cash-vs-shares.html?m=1

That study has been widely discredited for a number of reasons, but shows how the data may have value to certain specialist individuals for marketing and journalistic purposes. It should be noted that Paul Lewis had to piece together the cash data (or have one of his team do it). Someone would surely be selling it if it were of sufficient value to more than just a small number of curious people. It is probably of some use for marketing companies to collect such data for use in statistics, such as 'savings rates haven't been this high since X'.

gtmoon said:

masonic said:

gtmoon said:

eskbanker said:

You can view archive copies of web pages, to allow you to see what the best offers were at a particular historical date, so, for example, this page permits access to 1,327 versions of the MSE cash ISA article dating back to 2007:

http://web.archive.org/web/*/https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/best-cash-isa/

Likewise, long-running forum threads such as this one give an indication of what was seen as worthwhile at the time....

Thanks, that is really useful. I am thinking of something that is more accessible, as a landing page within MSE to allow people to select the product. If the data already stored, it should be simple query to fetch the data and present it in a table for easy of consumption. Maybe it is already development?

The data will be owned by MoneySupermarket, who own MSE. You could ask, but I doubt they would give you the data for free, or at all, even if they have mined the data and stored it in a table.

I mean they can create a tool, like others tools on MSE, for public to use, query historical best rate/product to make better (investment) decision. This will in turn drive up traffic, they can monetise that or other ways.

How to put this request through? I am pretty sure such thing must exists.

How many people, beside yourself, do you estimate would visit the main site to access this data? How do you think they could be monetised, given that the site does not contain any advertising and revenue comes from affiliate marketing (see https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/site/moneysavingexpert-finance/ ). People won't be able to click through and open all of these historic accounts.
Given that you've identified a gap in the market, which you believe could be lucrative, perhaps you should exploit it yourself. If, as you say, it has the potential to drive traffic, you could benefit from advertising revenue on your own website free of MSE's advertising constraints. Such a valuable resource would soon come to the attention of those who are fanatical about tracking the best savings accounts, and you'd surely get some free publicity from them here.