Tembo - are they any good

friolento

pete64_2 said:

The facts FSCS guarantee is not directly with Tembo. The guarantee is on the basis that they will put your money in accounts which are covered. There's nothing wrong with that, but it makes me nervous.

Some other providers also place funds with banks, in a similar way Tembo does. You have no input to the placement, it's not straight forward to work out who places how much where, and AFAIK, the providers can change the allocation if they see fit. 

If your total cash is less than £85k, there is not too much to worry about but it feels like driving with a blindfold if you do. 

EDIT: example of concerns: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6615286/tembo-trading-212-overlap-in-fscs

Vanphys

To try out a new contender for my money, I put in a small amount. On Friday 4th July, before work, I instigated a £5000 transfer from Trading 212 ISA to Tembo Isa 4.6% even for past tax years. Half a dozen emails from both that day, and funds in my new account - Tembo Isa by 4pm  same day.
Reason for moving:- I joined Trading 212 in Oct 2024 and get 4.15%. I have pointed out the Newbie rate of 4.96% (or 4.86%?), but trading 212 just say I was a newbie before 1st Jan 2025 when the NEWBIE rate came in.
The question is do I transfer ALL my old ISAs? (Still with Trading 212 at 4.15%)

friolento

Vanphys said:

To try out a new contender for my money, I put in a small amount. On Friday 4th July, before work, I instigated a £5000 transfer from Trading 212 ISA to Tembo Isa 4.6% even for past tax years. Half a dozen emails from both that day, and funds in my new account - Tembo Isa by 4pm  same day.
Reason for moving:- I joined Trading 212 in Oct 2024 and get 4.15%. I have pointed out the Newbie rate of 4.96% (or 4.86%?), but trading 212 just say I was a newbie before 1st Jan 2025 when the NEWBIE rate came in.
The question is do I transfer ALL my old ISAs? (Still with Trading 212 at 4.15%)

What you transfer is entirely down to you.

Keep in mind though that you cannot do partial transfers out of Tembo. This might influence how much you consolidate.

clairec666

friolento said:

Vanphys said:

To try out a new contender for my money, I put in a small amount. On Friday 4th July, before work, I instigated a £5000 transfer from Trading 212 ISA to Tembo Isa 4.6% even for past tax years. Half a dozen emails from both that day, and funds in my new account - Tembo Isa by 4pm  same day.
Reason for moving:- I joined Trading 212 in Oct 2024 and get 4.15%. I have pointed out the Newbie rate of 4.96% (or 4.86%?), but trading 212 just say I was a newbie before 1st Jan 2025 when the NEWBIE rate came in.
The question is do I transfer ALL my old ISAs? (Still with Trading 212 at 4.15%)

What you transfer is entirely down to you.

Keep in mind though that you cannot do partial transfers out of Tembo. This might influence how much you consolidate.

Also Tembo isn't flexible. You can get better rates than the 4.15% you're getting, so worth shopping around for a better rate. You might want to consider spreading it - some in Tembo, some in a flexible ISA, and as friolento points out you can't do partial transfers out of Tembo.

alexei2k

Tembo - I would not touch them, now that I've had a very bad experience with Tembo. I requested to transfer my cash ISA to another provider, after Tembo rate became uncompetitive. They sent my money back to my current bank account instead, and closed my ISA. Now, to correct their error, they requested I send the money back to some account of theirs, but I no longer trust them, they might mix things further again. And I lost my ISA limit for 1 year. Nice work, Tembo!

masonic

alexei2k said:

Tembo - I would not touch them, now that I've had a very bad experience with Tembo. I requested to transfer my cash ISA to another provider, after Tembo rate became uncompetitive. They sent my money back to my current bank account instead, and closed my ISA. Now, to correct their error, they requested I send the money back to some account of theirs, but I no longer trust them, they might mix things further again. And I lost my ISA limit for 1 year. Nice work, Tembo!

It's a pretty poor show of them to mistakenly treat a transfer as a withdrawal and that is completely on them. But if you refuse to let them fix it then the loss of ISA allowance is on you.

clairec666

alexei2k said:

Tembo - I would not touch them, now that I've had a very bad experience with Tembo. I requested to transfer my cash ISA to another provider, after Tembo rate became uncompetitive. They sent my money back to my current bank account instead, and closed my ISA. Now, to correct their error, they requested I send the money back to some account of theirs, but I no longer trust them, they might mix things further again. And I lost my ISA limit for 1 year. Nice work, Tembo!

Did you definitely instigate the transfer from your new provider? If so then it should be done correctly, and the new provider should also bear some responsibility for sorting the mess out.

chimerauk

Just checked FSCA website and they say about Tembo :
Money - not protected / LISA - not protected/cash ISA - not protected / savings - not protected.

Angelica123

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81912951#Comment_81912951

So Tembo itself is not a bank. The money is held with other partner banks who are FSCS - protected. From Tembo website

_

Tembo isn't a bank but a UK savings provider, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). We do this by carefully selecting and partnering with well-known national banks to hold customers' funds. So your money is always held securely with our trusted partners; Barclays, Bank of Scotland - and two new partners - Aldermore Bank and Shawbrook Bank, effective from 31st March 2025

pfpf

not sure if its been mentioned but Tembo have a referral option, needs to be from a current customer so be sure to refer your partners/friends where possible. Min £20 for each, random up to £1000.00