moving money from flexible saver account to ISA with same bank

eileen22

Have account with bank flexible saver, had it for years, its an emergency account in case of anything happening or have to travel or replace household items, anyway i dont get much if any interest on it,so should i ask said bank to move it over to a fixed term ISA or leave as is

thanks for reading

slinger2

Perhaps a "flexible" variable rate cash ISA would be a good option. You'd get a good interest rate and could get the money easily if you wanted it.

surreysaver

You don't necessarily need a fixed rate ISA. Variable rates ISAs pay equivalent or higher rate at the moment.
Do you actually need the money in an ISA - do you earn enough in interest to pay tax on it? If not, an ISA may not be necessary.

jimjames

surreysaver said:

You don't necessarily need a fixed rate ISA. Variable rates ISAs pay equivalent or higher rate at the moment.
Do you actually need the money in an ISA - do you earn enough in interest to pay tax on it? If not, an ISA may not be necessary.

I'd say you definitely don't want a fixed rate ISA if this is your emergency fund. While you can access it in emergency it will reduce the rate and may not be very quick.

sammy_zammy

If it’s your emergency fund why would you want it to be inaccessible in a fixed term account?

Olenna

Why don't you have a look at their whole cash ISA range as some providers have defined / limited access types (e.g. three withdrawals) or even provide very limited access on some of their fixed rates.

jimjames

Olenna said:

Why don't you have a look at their whole cash ISA range as some providers have defined / limited access types (e.g. three withdrawals) or even provide very limited access on some of their fixed rates.

I'd go one further and suggest looking at the whole market. Restricting yourself to your current bank seems a poor way to get the best rates available.

surreysaver

sammy_zammy said:

If it’s your emergency fund why would you want it to be inaccessible in a fixed term account?

A fixed term ISA isn't inaccessible. The law requires money in an ISA to be accessible. But to withdraw money from an ISA will incur a penalty 

Bigwheels1111

I use Trading212 for this exact reason.
It uses open banking, links to your bank account.
You go into the app, in your account it has a button, deposit funds, follow the steps.
It opens your bank, confirms the amount and moves it.
Withdrawals, are near instant.

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/isa/easy-access-cash-isas/?quick-links-first=false&product-favorites-first=false&sort-order=AER&sort-order-text=Rate

lr1277

It depends on how quickly you will need the money.

From my point of view it is advantageous to have some money saved at the same bank that holds your current account. That way if you need money right now, as long as you can contact your bank, you can move the money over straight away.

Then put the rest in an easy access cash ISA with another provider. When requested this money, it may arrive the same day, the next day or if there is some kind of technical failure, in which case the money may take days to arrive.

I suppose this depends on how much you keep in your current account, whether you have access to credit cards, and who is paying the best rate of interest. This could be your bank or could be another provider.

For some emergencies you need the money straight away, say an emergency plumber who only accepts cash or a bank transfer. For other things, you might be able to put the expense on your credit card.

Albermarle

lr1277 said:

It depends on how quickly you will need the money.

From my point of view it is advantageous to have some money saved at the same bank that holds your current account. That way if you need money right now, as long as you can contact your bank, you can move the money over straight away.

Then put the rest in an easy access cash ISA with another provider. When requested this money, it may arrive the same day, the next day or if there is some kind of technical failure, in which case the money may take days to arrive.

I suppose this depends on how much you keep in your current account, whether you have access to credit cards, and who is paying the best rate of interest. This could be your bank or could be another provider.

For some emergencies you need the money straight away, say an emergency plumber who only accepts cash or a bank transfer. For other things, you might be able to put the expense on your credit card.

I do this as well.
I have a few thousand ( max) in an easy access account with my current account provider. 
On the banks app on my phone I can move money in and out of my current account to this savings account in seconds.
Although I could get another 1% interest elsewhere, the convenience is worth it for a 'cost 'of maybe £40 a year.
Otherwise my larger longer term savings go where the best interest rates are at the time, which sometimes is at my bank, but often not.