Transfer ISA to Zopa from HSBC

Ammah45

Hi all,
I have just opened a Zopa account in order to transfer my ISA from HSBC which pays a miserable rate of interest. But as I was about to transfer my ISA, it says they don't accept transfers from this provider (i.e. HSBC). I haven't found anything about this in their help section so I am wondering if I have done anything wrong.

I am also thinking of transferring my flexible saver to Zopa from HSBC. Does anyone have experience of this?  

refluxer

You may not find many people with experience of transferring ISAs into Zopa yet as they only started offering this a couple of weeks ago. It is odd that they've singled out ISAs from HSBC as not being allowed, though.

Is this an easy access ISA you're wanting to transfer, presumably ? If so, note that Zopa don't allow partial transfers out so if you want to transfer your Smart ISA away in the future, then you'll have to move all of it. This is especially important to bear in mind if you're thinking about spreading your Zopa ISA savings among both their easy access and fixed term ISA pots, as all the pots are considered to be part of the same Smart ISA and attempting to transfer away while a fixed term is running would result in having to pay a penalty.

For moving your Flexible Saver savings to Zopa, you'd simply move them to a suitable account (such as a current account - with HSBC if you have one) and then make an online (faster/BACs) payment into Zopa from there. Payments in and out of a Zopa Smart Saver are pretty quick - usually between 2 and 20 minutes in my experience. 

GrubbyGirl_2

I am transferring an ISA from Shawbrook to Zopa and had a message from Shawbrook today to say the transfer has been accepted so all is going smoothly so far

Ammah45

refluxer said:

You may not find many people with experience of transferring ISAs into Zopa yet as they only started offering this a couple of weeks ago. It is odd that they've singled out ISAs from HSBC as not being allowed, though.

Is this an easy access ISA you're wanting to transfer, presumably ? If so, note that Zopa don't allow partial transfers out so if you want to transfer your Smart ISA away in the future, then you'll have to move all of it. This is especially important to bear in mind if you're thinking about spreading your Zopa ISA savings among both their easy access and fixed term ISA pots, as all the pots are considered to be part of the same Smart ISA and attempting to transfer away while a fixed term is running would result in having to pay a penalty.

For moving your Flexible Saver savings to Zopa, you'd simply move them to a suitable account (such as a current account - with HSBC if you have one) and then make an online (faster/BACs) payment into Zopa from there. Payments in and out of a Zopa Smart Saver are pretty quick - usually between 2 and 20 minutes in my experience. 

Thanks, yes it's their easy access ISA so I can withdraw some money when I want without being penalised. I am transferring the entire pot from HSBC to Zopa. 
I have to look to see why this is happening.

Qyburn

If it cane to it you could transfer twice, HSBC to another bank, then second transfer to Zopa. But would be worth asking Zopa why there's an issue first.

Ammah45

I have sorted it out. It was my mistake as I was trying to "search" HSBC. But when I look down the list, it's there. 

I am new to this so have a stupid question! I know Zopa is FSCS protected but i am not sure what that means in reality. Does it mean that if Zopa goes bust, FSCS will return all my money up to £85k, or just a percentage of it?

I am very very risk averse. I'd rather keep my money at HSBC than risk it if I am not guaranteed to get it back in the event of zopa going bust. 

ColdIron

Ammah45 said:

Does it mean that if Zopa goes bust, FSCS will return all my money up to £85k, or just a percentage of it?

The scheme protects you 100% up to £85,000, just like with HSBC

https://www.fscs.org.uk/what-we-cover/banks-building-societies

refluxer

Ammah45 said:

I am very very risk averse. I'd rather keep my money at HSBC than risk it if I am not guaranteed to get it back in the event of zopa going bust. 

FWIW, I've used Zopa for a while now and haven't had any issues - you just need to make sure you're comfortable with app-only banking (and can commit to not allowing your phone's OS to get too out-of-date) as there is no browser-based online banking for their Smart Saver account.

I only have £1 in their Smart Saver at the moment as the rate hasn't been competitive for a while but with interest rates heading downwards, I expect I'll end up using it again at some point. I do have a 3 year fixed rate ISA with them, but can't comment on the transfer process as mine was funded with this tax year's ISA allowance. 

Qyburn

refluxer said:
 

FWIW, I've used Zopa for a while now and haven't had any issues - you just need to make sure you're comfortable with app-only banking (and can commit to not allowing your phone's OS to get too out-of-date) as there is no browser-based online banking for their Smart Saver account.

That aspect's not too bad with Zopa. The latest Dec 2023 version of their app runs OK on my tablet which is stuck in the past with Android 7.  But as a fail safe I like to have any app-only accounts accessible from both phone and tablet, in case one of them gets goosed at an inconvient time. 

Ammah45

refluxer said:

Ammah45 said:

I am very very risk averse. I'd rather keep my money at HSBC than risk it if I am not guaranteed to get it back in the event of zopa going bust. 

FWIW, I've used Zopa for a while now and haven't had any issues - you just need to make sure you're comfortable with app-only banking (and can commit to not allowing your phone's OS to get too out-of-date) as there is no browser-based online banking for their Smart Saver account.

I only have £1 in their Smart Saver at the moment as the rate hasn't been competitive for a while but with interest rates heading downwards, I expect I'll end up using it again at some point. I do have a 3 year fixed rate ISA with them, but can't comment on the transfer process as mine was funded with this tax year's ISA allowance. 

That's a good point. I have no experience with app-only banking and I am wondering what happens if their app just disappears or can't be accessed for a while for whatever reason? How can the money be accessed, or how can you even prove you had any money with them?
Opening the account wasn't very rigorous as they asked for no ID. Just personal details, email and phone number. 

Ammah45

I have braved it and requested a transfer of my entire ISA pot to Zopa. I was wondering though how the interest will be calculated and whether there will be any? Will HSBC add the interest upto the day of transfer and include it in the transfer amount? Or will they transfer the existing total and then pay any interest as usual at the end of the month?

Thanks