Where to move ISA?

eskbanker

Someone2088 said:

CashMoney said:

Ok so now I'm confused with conflicting opinions lol. Should I wait till end of financial year and then transfer? Should I wait till May and complete the 3 years of holding the ISA with Santander and then transfer? I am still getting 1.50% with Santander(till ISA matures) as opposed to transferring to Virgin and getting 1.31%. 

The main thing here is, if you are still within the term of the ISA you currently have (i.e. it is a 3 year fixed rate ISA, and you're still within the 3 years- it's less than 3 years since you opened the ISA, and the ISA has not matured yet), then wait until your current ISA matures, and you receive the interest for that fixed term before you transfer it to another provider.

When your ISA has matured, it will change (ISAs I've had in the past have said 'inactive' or something once they've matured, and you will see that the interest rate has dropped), then you need to instruct Virgin (or whoever you open the new ISA with) to transfer your existing (matured) ISA to them.

Perhaps OP could clarify exactly which product they have - as above, my suspicion is that it's the e-ISA launched just under a year ago:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5973140/santander-123-isas

This isn't a fixed term product but has a rate of 1.5% guaranteed for 12 months, while remaining easy access, so technically it doesn't mature as such but the rate will drop after the 12 months is up.  Older ISAs could be migrated into this product at launch, which could explain OP's comment about the three years.

On the other hand, it is possible that OP does have a 3-year fixed term product but I'd have thought that 1.5% was below expectations for those....

CashMoney

Hi people, it's the easy access cash e-ISA that I currently have.

Someone2088

CashMoney said:

Hi people, it's the easy access cash e-ISA that I currently have.

In that case, contact your new ISA provider, and ask them to transfer it whenever you're ready to, as this won't impact the interest you receive on your current ISA, because it is not a fixed rate ISA.