Is this First Direct ISA any good?

Legacy_user

Balance AER Tax free
£1 - £4,999 1.30% 1.29%
£5,000 - £9,999 1.50% 1.49%
£10,000 - £19,999 1.70% 1.69%
£20,000 - £39,999 1.85% 1.83%
£40,000 and over 2.00% 1.98%

I can put in £15000 (not put anything into an ISA this year) so that would be 1.7%

Are there any catches to this? Just wondering because it's not on the MSE website and it looks good to me.

colsten

You can get better interest in several current accounts, and you can still deposit into your 2014-15 ISA until April 5 2015.

System

colsten wrote: »

You can get better interest in several current accounts, and you can still deposit into your 2014-15 ISA until April 5 2015.

Thanks for the reply.

Unforunately, if you're talking about Santander/Lloyds/Nationwide accounts, I don't have an income at the moment so I can't apply for any of those. I only have Halifax and First Direct accounts.

Snakey

I'm not an investment expert but I do have my cash ISA with First Direct and there are no catches that I've seen. The rates are variable though so could change. Last change they made was last year when they dropped the >£40k rate from 3%.

You can, if you can be bothered, set up a series of circular bank transfers between all those various current accounts to tick the "monthly income" box without having a salary and thereby access the good interest rates (check the other conditions also, though). My ISA money for this year is, as Colsten suggests, sitting in one of those current accounts - I'll shift it into the ISA wrapper right before the year-end, assuming nothing changes between now and then. With the new rules I was considering starting a Stocks and Shares ISA in the hope of better returns, but keep wussing out when it gets right down to the decision time.

I_have_spoken

They've just announced rates will be slashed in Oct. For anyone who starts an ISA this year, maxing out at £15,000 will get you a paltry 1.4%

tipsychick

Hi I have spoken, would you have a link to the new interest rates please? I've been half expecting them to drop.

miroh

1 - 14999 : 1.3% AER
15000 - 29999 : 1.4% AER
30000 & OVER : 1.5% AER

effective from 16th Oct 2014.

A bit miffed but now wondering where will I get 1.7% AER with instant access..

jimjames

miroh wrote: »

A bit miffed but now wondering where will I get 1.7% AER with instant access..

Current accounts?

S&S ISA with income funds?

Boith will pay substantially more than 1.7%

tipsychick

Ugh that doesn't look good, particularly if you're already in the £40K+ tier. Do you mind me asking where are you getting your info from, as I can't see anything on their website or online anywhere?

I imagine with the new increase in NISA deposits of up to £15K, plus people transferring in quite possibly large amounts from S&S ISAs for the first time, FD really don't want to be paying out such "high" rates of interest.

miroh

tipsychick wrote: »

Ugh that doesn't look good, particularly if you're already in the £40K+ tier. Do you mind me asking where are you getting your info from, as I can't see anything on their website or online anywhere?

I have received a letter through post today. You might want to call them up to confirm.

I might have to look at Santander's current account..

ScoobyZ

New Lower Rates from 16th October!:

£1 - £14,999 - 1.3%
£15,000 - £29,999 1.4%
£30,000+ £1.5%

I will be moving mine