Barclays 1 year flexible fixed rate ISA

refluxer

pecunianonolet said:

I was referring to this statement below so was wondering. If I put 20k in it would generate around £65.75 (30 days) in interest a month. So my understanding is that it can't stay in the ISA and has to be transferred out. Once out I can't put it back in if I am in the same tax year as the limit is obviously 20k. That means that I can't compound it within the ISA and my funds in the ISA are staying flat. I could now keep the money in a different acount to compound and put it back in when my new allowance kicks in next year. If I opt for annual I just get a lumpsum at the end of the term and would miss out on any compounding. 

Maybe I overthink this or miss something which concerns the ISA rules alltogether. (Never had an ISA before)

"Monthly interest can't be paid back into this ISA or directly into any other ISA or bond. It can be paid into a Barclays account in your name or held jointly with someone else, or we'll send it to you by cheque."

In terms of the total amount of interest you receive - with this particular ISA, there is no benefit to selecting monthly interest instead of annual interest as monthly interest can be only paid away, which means there is no compounding within the ISA.

If you don't need the interest as monthly income and would prefer to let the amount grow within the ISA instead, then you need to select annual interest. That way, the interest earns stays in a tax-free environment and doesn't reduce the amount you can add during the next tax year, which taking interest monthly and paying it back in next year would obviously do.

As an aside - even if you were able to have monthly interest paid into the account, most bank accounts of this nature pay the same AER regardless of whether you take interest monthly or annually, but you have to have the monthly interest paid into the same account in order to achieve that monthly AER figure.

Focus21

We saw the MSE listing for this ISA and, following the instructions, this morning we travelled our local branch in town (at 10 am Monday) to open two. Couldn't be done. No staff and no appointments available until March!!! The receptionist on the front desk was most disrespectful and unhelpful. Clearly this product is targetted at Barclays existing customers only - (I don't bank with them.) The experience has put us off Barclays forever.

carsmartguy

Called at my local Barclays Bank today. I'm not an existing Barclays customer so they made it clear that it was almost impossible to open this Fixed Rate ISA. "No ISA application forms are kept 'In branch', "If your not an existing Barclays customer then you have to book an appointment with one of our financial advisors" etc. etc.
Don't give Barclays the publicity if their 4% product is not open to all!

eskbanker

carsmartguy said:

Called at my local Barclays Bank today. I'm not an existing Barclays customer so they made it clear that it was almost impossible to open this Fixed Rate ISA. "No ISA application forms are kept 'In branch', "If your not an existing Barclays customer then you have to book an appointment with one of our financial advisors" etc. etc.

Don't give Barclays the publicity if their 4% product is not open to all!

It is open to all, but they expect you to jump through some hoops to get one, rather than simply opening them on the spot without an appointment....

pecunianonolet

Would having a credit card with them being count as an existing customer? Tried to contact them via chat in the app and they said I need to call them as they are an exclusive cc team? Seems to be all rather strange and more a marketing faff.

EDIT:

Right, after Coventry pulled their FHS today I slightly panicked and called Barclays and the first person I spoke to transferred me to the savings team, a lady said she is happy to open the account, we went through all the steps and at some point the line got silent and I was cut off. Called straight back, spoke to somebody else, again all verifications had to be done, and been told this needs to be done by the savings team and I was transferred again. Now spoke to a gentleman who wasn't the nicest and said I am now on the Premier line and that I need to go to branch. Right, me not giving up I called again and now spoke to a very friendly lady, she checked and tried and said that she can't do it online and that I need to go to branch. Was told that no credit check is required but that they can't open on the phone because of lack of ID details because I only have a credit card with them. With a current account it would have been very straight forward I was told. Furthermore, al lot of people seem to call about this ISA so we'll see how long it will last before it is pulled.

I would recommend anyone who has some sort of product with them already, which is not a current account, to give them a call so they can make a note on your account. That means that if you have to wait for ages for an appointment they probably honour the offer after it might be pulled. All pure speculation but probably won't hurt

Mary_Alice

I have a Barclays current account so could open this easily I presume.BUT I have an ISA with the max in it for this tax year already  and don't want to transfer it. would it be worth opening and waiting to fund it on 6th April for the next tax year or should  I just wait and hope it is still available ?

refluxer

Mary_Alice said:

I have a Barclays current account so could open this easily I presume.BUT I have an ISA with the max in it for this tax year already  and don't want to transfer it. would it be worth opening and waiting to fund it on 6th April for the next tax year or should  I just wait and hope it is still available ?

If you did open one now, you'd have to submit a transfer request within 30 days otherwise they'll close the account - you can't leave it unfunded until April.

It's very rare for Barclays to have an ISA with a competitive interest rate so I'm not sure how long it'll be around for - I've banked with them for decades and can't remember this happening before !

andyhicks88

I can put 20k into this straight away, and as i understand it, can add another 20k in the new tax year, however are there any deposit time limitations for this? Could I deposit several times during the new tax year for example? 

pecunianonolet

andyhicks88 said:

I can put 20k into this straight away, and as i understand it, can add another 20k in the new tax year, however are there any deposit time limitations for this? Could I deposit several times during the new tax year for example? 

1. Yes, you can deposit 20k in this tax year and another 20k in the new tax year. If you go for the 2y account it can be another 20k in the following year. You can also put 20k in now and in the new tax year open a second account (if still available to the given rate) so you extend the interest period for the second account.

2. Yes, you can make unlimited additional pay ins at any time within the tax year up to the limit of 20k

susanann_2

Am confused with their monthly interest vs annually. They quote 4% for both on the 1yr fix surely monthly should be less if it’s not you must be better to select monthly and invest it in a regular saver each month.