Zopa not listed on Easy Access Cash ISA? Why?

Nasqueron

jameseonline said:

But MSE clearly marks things they get money from so I don't think that has much baring on things if at all.

I think MSE features the main accounts ie banks/building societies/app based etc that most people will have heard of such as Santander, HSBC.

It also features lesser known names such as Cahoot (Santander in disguise) , Zopa, Chip, Paragon etc.

Zopa have been featured before on MSE for their Instant Access account.

Things can move quick in savings etc terms then slow down then quick again.

Realistically you can't expect MSE to keep up as it's not solely a bank savings site, it's a mix of things if that makes sense.

You do have the power to help change what's on the site whether it's an out of date account still being featured or there's a new account you want featured etc.

It's the broken link email address, however give them enough reasons to feature your suggestion/s, more they have the more likely they are to feature. 

You aren't guaranteed a reply to emails & just because they won't feature something now it doesn't mean they won't in the future.

I have no problem with their commission - as I said it helps run the site

However, if the site is missing good deals from major providers there is no reason not to shop around.

With Balance Transfer cards for example, they have Barclaycard, Virgin, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander plus Zopa, Fluid and Capital One

However, I got a Tesco one (with cashback from TopCashBack) that I found on uSwitch I think. A quick google also shows Co-Op, HSBC, MNBA, TSB, M&S and Post Office. You can get cashback from HSBC (£26.25), Tesco (£25), and Santander (£17) all from TCB. QuidCo also do the HSBC one (£35), Tesco (£25), Santander (£17). Barclays (£15.20) 

eskbanker

Nasqueron said:

jameseonline said:

But MSE clearly marks things they get money from so I don't think that has much baring on things if at all.

I think MSE features the main accounts ie banks/building societies/app based etc that most people will have heard of such as Santander, HSBC.

It also features lesser known names such as Cahoot (Santander in disguise) , Zopa, Chip, Paragon etc.

Zopa have been featured before on MSE for their Instant Access account.

Things can move quick in savings etc terms then slow down then quick again.

Realistically you can't expect MSE to keep up as it's not solely a bank savings site, it's a mix of things if that makes sense.

You do have the power to help change what's on the site whether it's an out of date account still being featured or there's a new account you want featured etc.

It's the broken link email address, however give them enough reasons to feature your suggestion/s, more they have the more likely they are to feature. 

You aren't guaranteed a reply to emails & just because they won't feature something now it doesn't mean they won't in the future.

I have no problem with their commission - as I said it helps run the site

However, if the site is missing good deals from major providers there is no reason not to shop around.

With Balance Transfer cards for example, they have Barclaycard, Virgin, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander plus Zopa, Fluid and Capital One

However, I got a Tesco one (with cashback from TopCashBack) that I found on uSwitch I think. A quick google also shows Co-Op, HSBC, MNBA, TSB, M&S and Post Office. You can get cashback from HSBC (£26.25), Tesco (£25), and Santander (£17) all from TCB. QuidCo also do the HSBC one (£35), Tesco (£25), Santander (£17). Barclays (£15.20) 

I'm not sure that it's realistic to expect MSE to offer listings both with and without third party cashback deals, but with any of their 'best buy' pieces, they aim to list the top 3/4/5 or whatever rather than a comprehensive listing of all, so are you saying that the ones they omit (ignoring third party cashback offers) are objectively better than the ones they do list?

Nasqueron

eskbanker said:

Nasqueron said:

jameseonline said:

But MSE clearly marks things they get money from so I don't think that has much baring on things if at all.

I think MSE features the main accounts ie banks/building societies/app based etc that most people will have heard of such as Santander, HSBC.

It also features lesser known names such as Cahoot (Santander in disguise) , Zopa, Chip, Paragon etc.

Zopa have been featured before on MSE for their Instant Access account.

Things can move quick in savings etc terms then slow down then quick again.

Realistically you can't expect MSE to keep up as it's not solely a bank savings site, it's a mix of things if that makes sense.

You do have the power to help change what's on the site whether it's an out of date account still being featured or there's a new account you want featured etc.

It's the broken link email address, however give them enough reasons to feature your suggestion/s, more they have the more likely they are to feature. 

You aren't guaranteed a reply to emails & just because they won't feature something now it doesn't mean they won't in the future.

I have no problem with their commission - as I said it helps run the site

However, if the site is missing good deals from major providers there is no reason not to shop around.

With Balance Transfer cards for example, they have Barclaycard, Virgin, Lloyds, Natwest and Santander plus Zopa, Fluid and Capital One

However, I got a Tesco one (with cashback from TopCashBack) that I found on uSwitch I think. A quick google also shows Co-Op, HSBC, MBNA, TSB, M&S and Post Office. You can get cashback from HSBC (£26.25), Tesco (£25), and Santander (£17) all from TCB. QuidCo also do the HSBC one (£35), Tesco (£25), Santander (£17). Barclays (£15.20) 

I'm not sure that it's realistic to expect MSE to offer listings both with and without third party cashback deals, but with any of their 'best buy' pieces, they aim to list the top 3/4/5 or whatever rather than a comprehensive listing of all, so are you saying that the ones they omit (ignoring third party cashback offers) are objectively better than the ones they do list?

Not at all, nor am I expecting MSE to do that.

The point of this topic was that Zopa was not listed on the MSE article about savings. I was explaining, beyond the reasoning of "best buys", why MSE don't list everything - it's logical they would list deals they get commission for and not list ones they don't unless they were exceptionally better, hence why people should shop around. I have no issue with MSE getting commission to run the site, but if they don't list an offer that is good, but that they don't get commission for, then someone may miss out. Thus it is worth reminding people to check other sites precisely because they don't/can't mention them all - including some that are arguably better.

Not including ones where you get cashback instead of MSE getting it is again why forums like this are beneficial as you might not know about them - this is money saving expert after all! I don't see why you'd ignore them, I would rather get £25-35 towards the fee.

The Tesco one as an example is 25 months with 2.99% fee which is lower - up to 0.5% - than the top 3 MSE picks though 2-3 months shorter then the top 3 MSE deals hence why it's not on there I suspect. MBNA is I think 27 months but 3.49% fee though it's one that was arguably aimed at lower rated customers than their (now) sister bank Lloyds. TSB is 24 months but 2.95% fee - is that better than say Lloyds 27 months with 3.2% fee given you might get the 14 month 3.49% fee? Similarly the M&S one for 26 months 3.49% fee? Co-Op is 24 months 3% fee

eskbanker

Not sure I'm understanding - I'd formed the impression that you were suggesting that MSE was distorting its best buy pieces by deliberately omitting deals that generate less revenue for MSE, that otherwise would have featured based on objective criteria of rates, etc, but am still unclear if that's what you're saying, when your examples don't seem to clearly demonstrate that (when their BT deals are selected according to which are longest)?

They naturally dispute that interpretation, so if you have actual examples then they'd be worth flagging to them:

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We don't believe so. The MoneySaving guides are written, then, totally separately, paid links are looked for. If no paying link is available, nothing in the guide changes. If the best is the best and doesn't pay, it stays the best. The link used is simply 'non-affiliated' – in other words, non-paying. Financial considerations do not affect inclusion in articles.

Yet just like best buys change all the time, so do the products with affiliate links available. We may use the weekly email and website navigation to remind you more often about deals or guides that generate more revenue for the main site at that time, but, crucially, the info within will be exactly the same.

We will never change our stance, or picks, because of commercial considerations.

As you rightly say, there are wider issues, in terms of eligibility for third party cashback offers, and choice of evaluation criteria, so yes, it's always important for readers to know what's important to them and to source data accordingly.

Nasqueron

It's their opinion vs my opinion on which offers are better - I stated clearly in my reply that they would include offers that they didn't get commission on if they were clearly better. I don't think it's particularly unusual for a company that gets funding from commission to push deals that they get money from over one a similar deal they don't get it from. A medium size youtube channel isn't going to tell you that a bigger channel gets a better discount on whatever their mutual sponsor is offering, that's simply business. The CRAs are no different in their recommended offers, I would do the same in their position.

My point is simply that checking whole of market is important as MSE doesn't include every deal and some they don't include may be better for your circumstances.

Plus use cashback rather than someone else getting it

jungleboy123

someone from MSE must have been reading this thread - they've listed it today!!