Easy access cash isa with regular interest rate adjustments?

oz0707

Are there any particular providers who are known for increasing their easy access cash ISA rates with the BOE increases. I'm trying to help someone with their isa this year we were going to fix but by the time a paper form was posted out the fixed rate offered had been eclipsed. I am now thinking if there are certain providers who regularly increase their Easy Access ISA rate just going with one of these. A tracker would be the perfect scenario but none available as far as I can see.

Catplan

You can transfer most non fixed rate ISA’s without penalty assuming any new account allows transfer in.

Link to variable rate ISA’s https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/isa/variable-rate-isas/

jimjames

Virgin have been regularly increasing their cash ISA rates this year. Still not as high as the best instant access savings account but should beat it when tax taken into account.

Eirambler

The ISA market is not as competitive as the regular savings market, so there is not a provider like Chip or Tandem who is constantly seeking to be at the top of the interest rate charts.

However Coventry and Shawbrook would be two that are usually there or thereabouts. Neither of them are consistent rate toppers, but they are usually near the top and seem to take turns to be the market leader. Virgin and Principality would be two others as long as the person doesn't mind only receiving the interest on an annual basis (Coventry and Shawbrook will pay monthly if desired).

oz0707

Thanks for the replies. Do these providers up the rate on the existing account generally or do they open new issues?

Can you open new cash isa even if already used isa allowance that year? IE fund new isa with a transfer?

Qyburn

oz0707 said:

Thanks for the replies. Do these providers up the rate on the existing account generally or do they open new issues?

Can you open new cash isa even if already used isa allowance that year? IE fund new isa with a transfer?

It's pretty random between providers in my limited experience. With Santander we've had accounts upgraded in-place following a telephone call, keeping account number unchanged. Paragon we had to open anew accounts and transfer, although that was quicker and easier than an external transfer.

refluxer

oz0707 said:

Thanks for the replies. Do these providers up the rate on the existing account generally or do they open new issues?

Can you open new cash isa even if already used isa allowance that year? IE fund new isa with a transfer?

As mentioned above, there is no single easy access ISA provider who is guaranteed to pass on any BoE rate rise and/or remain at the top of the easy access table on a permanent basis, so you just have to pick one and take your chances.

Shawbrook, for example, may be near the top of the easy access ISA table at the moment and therefore a good bet now, but I was forced to abandon that account towards the end of last year when they didn't increase the rate for many, many months, at a time when rates from other providers were increasing theirs.

When it comes to picking a provider, one piece of advice I would give is to pick one who uses the BACs ISA transfer service. That way, transfers between two providers on that list should be done wholly online/electronically, so the process should be easier and quicker (they should take days rather than weeks) as a result. Cynergy provide a handy list here. 

oz0707

Are we allowed to open 2 accounts within 1 tax year though if you have used your whole allowance?

Catplan

oz0707 said:

Are we allowed to open 2 accounts within 1 tax year though if you have used your whole allowance?

you can open as many as you want, you can only fund one with new money, so you open isa A fund it with 10k week later open isa B and transfer isa A to it. Once the transfer is completed you can add 10k to it. You then open isa C you transfer isa B to isa C and so on. You may then open and transfer as rates improve, generally speaking. Just make sure they accept incoming transfers some don’t. 

In the example above I wouldn’t fund isa B until isa A transfer is complete as you’d then have new money in two isa’s for a short period which is against the rules. Once the transfer completes all new money is kept together, so you can then pay in more up to 20k allowance.

refluxer

oz0707 said:

Are we allowed to open 2 accounts within 1 tax year though if you have used your whole allowance?

You can open as many cash ISAs as you like, but you can only pay new subscriptions from the current tax year into one cash ISA at any one time. In practice this means that, when considering a transfer, subscriptions from the current tax year have to stay together to avoid breaking that rule but if you're transferring the whole balance of an easy access cash ISA then that would be happening anyway, so it's all good.

Transfers of cash ISAs containing contributions from previous tax years don't count towards the current tax year's ISA allowance.