Plum isa

Thegrassisgreener

I have a plum isa which has just reached its year point. However due to how Plum applies its interest i won't apparently get my April interest so (7days of April for maturity) until May the 31st !!! Nearly 2 months after. If I want to move it now I will lose April interest and a yearly bonus. When I do transfer it I am told I will lose a month of interest. So if you have a year isa with Plum think 14 months to get your money out.

slinger2

There are many threads on here pointing out the many things you have to know and understand to get a decent interest rate out of the Plum Cash ISA. Personally, I've so far given it a wide berth.

MeteredOut

Have you read this?

https://help.withplum.com/en/articles/9070552-transfer-cash-isa-out-of-plum

To be on the safe side, you could do a partial transfer, and keep at least £100 in.

MeteredOut

MeteredOut said:

Have you read this?

https://help.withplum.com/en/articles/9070552-transfer-cash-isa-out-of-plum

To be on the safe side, you could do a partial transfer, and keep at least £100 in.

I've initiated a partial transfer from Plum. Their confirmation email states

"We aim to process this transfer within 5 working days, unless your provider has asked us to wait until your Plum ISA matures. Please note that any pending interest, including bonus interest (if applicable), is paid on the last working day of the following month, not at the time of transfer or Plum ISA maturity.

When this interest is paid, it will be added to your Plum ISA account. You’ll then have the option to:

• Withdraw the funds to your Plum Pocket and linked bank account, or
• Request a new transfer through your external ISA provider for us to send the funds to."

So if you do a full transfer, you won't get interest accrued to date (as per the T&cs), but it will still be paid at the end of the following month can then be transferred to the new ISA (or withdrawn).

It does lead to the question - what about the interest on that interest paid between that first withdrawal and the end of the month following that? It'd probably be £s or pennies (depending on the balance), but you could find yourself in an near-infinite spiral of ISA transfers until its all cleared out  

masonic

See the example at the bottom of: https://help.withplum.com/en/articles/9070552-transfer-cash-isa-out-of-plum

It won't spiral providing you transfer out or withdraw the interest during the following month as any interest on this interest would be forfeit.

MeteredOut

masonic said:

See the example at the bottom of: https://help.withplum.com/en/articles/9070552-transfer-cash-isa-out-of-plum

It won't spiral providing you transfer out or withdraw the interest during the following month as any interest on this interest would be forfeit.

I've done a partial transfer out, leaving > £100 in the Plum ISA. So, its not a full transfer out, its not closing the Cash ISA and its not Transferring Out within the bonus rate period (>12 months in my case). What clause states interest for April will be lost?

Please note that in case of a full transfer out of your Cash ISA to another provider, the interest rate for the remaining amount in Plum will be set to 2.5% AER. 

Partial Transfer outs do not affect your Bonus and Main Rate, as long as the remaining balance is above £100.

If you close your Cash ISA with Plum and/or Transfer Out within the bonus rate period, you will lose any bonus accrued from your Cash ISA opening, and you will forfeit any interest earned the month of the request.

masonic

MeteredOut said:

masonic said:

See the example at the bottom of: https://help.withplum.com/en/articles/9070552-transfer-cash-isa-out-of-plum

It won't spiral providing you transfer out or withdraw the interest during the following month as any interest on this interest would be forfeit.

I've done a partial transfer out, leaving > £100 in the Plum ISA. So, its not a full transfer out, its not closing the Cash ISA and its not Transferring Out within the bonus rate period (>12 months in my case). What clause states interest for April will be lost?

Please note that in case of a full transfer out of your Cash ISA to another provider, the interest rate for the remaining amount in Plum will be set to 2.5% AER. 

Partial Transfer outs do not affect your Bonus and Main Rate, as long as the remaining balance is above £100.

If you close your Cash ISA with Plum and/or Transfer Out within the bonus rate period, you will lose any bonus accrued from your Cash ISA opening, and you will forfeit any interest earned the month of the request.

Unless and until you do a full transfer out, the "spiral" in which unpaid interest prevents the account balance reaching zero for several months will not be started. There is no reason to seek to maintain it at exactly £100. But in fact a spiral at the end won't happen providing you transfer out the interest the month following it being credited.

Rlw1204

I too have fallen foul of Plum's change to the interest payment schedule. Today I submitted a formal complaint, requesting they honour the original schedule as was advertised and is still visible on their archived website (below).

They claim a change in banking partner forced this change but frankly that is not our problem and I am not willing to forfeit my interest or wait 7 weeks at a significantly lower rate. 

I encourage every customer to submit an official complaint and escalate to the Ombudsman.
"Basic earnings (at the 4.29% rate i.e. excluding the Bonus) will be paid at the start of each month throughout the year, with any earnings from the Plum Bonus rate paid at the end of the promotional 12-month period (on the anniversary of when the customer first opened their ISA)."

masonic

Rlw1204 said:

I too have fallen foul of Plum's change to the interest payment schedule. Today I submitted a formal complaint, requesting they honour the original schedule as was advertised and is still visible on their archived website (below).

They claim a change in banking partner forced this change but frankly that is not our problem and I am not willing to forfeit my interest or wait 7 weeks at a significantly lower rate. 

I encourage every customer to submit an official complaint and escalate to the Ombudsman.

"Basic earnings (at the 4.29% rate i.e. excluding the Bonus) will be paid at the start of each month throughout the year, with any earnings from the Plum Bonus rate paid at the end of the promotional 12-month period (on the anniversary of when the customer first opened their ISA)."

Where have you found that on the website? Even this guide from 4 months ago states end of following month: https://help.withplum.com/en/articles/8998839-cash-isa-interest-calculation

I think it is grounds for complaint for them to unilaterally change the terms like this without allowing you to leave penalty free (i.e. without losing the bonus so far accrued), but the time to complain is when you were first notified about the change. Emails were sent to existing customers in October last year.

Rlw1204

The notice issued by Plum in October failed to specify that it had also reneged on the bonus payment terms (moving from the anniversary date) so I think a complaint still has grounds. Regardless, no option to leave without penalty was provided.

As a new forum member I am unable to share the link but another commenter on this forum shared it recently. Search "plum ISA interest". The archived Plum page was published on 3rd April 2024. I signed up on 7th April.

masonic

Rlw1204 said:

As a new forum member I am unable to share the link but another commenter on this forum shared it recently. Search "plum ISA interest". The archived Plum page was published on 3rd April 2024. I signed up on 7th April.

It was me who posted a link to the internet archive showing the terms as they were on 3rd April here: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81186986/#Comment_81186986

This information is NOT still being published on Plum's website 6 months after they changed the terms and informed their customers in a notice of variation.

I don't think anyone, including Plum would dispute that they made changes to the terms, so the archived information doesn't really prove anything.

How did Plum respond in October last year when you contacted them objecting to the unilateral change to your contract?

You mentioned the bonus has also been moved from the anniversary date. Moved to when exactly? If you haven't received the bonus after holding at least the minimum £100 balance for 12 consecutive months, then that appears to be contrary to the T&Cs. I can see no information to suggest they changed the terms around payment of the bonus.

If you opened on 7th April last year, the bonus should have been credited by now and you'd be free to withdraw now that your overall rate has dropped.

If you submitted a transfer request on 7th April 2025, then the only interest you'd miss out on is the "basic" interest from 1st April onwards until your transfer is sent. You'll retain all of the "bonus" interest.

If you submit a transfer request on 1st May 2025, then the only interest you'd miss out on is the "basic" interest from 1st May onwards until your transfer is sent. Again, you'll retain all of the "bonus" interest.

The change to the crediting of interest doesn't change the amount of interest you would get under either of these scenarios. It just means the ISA will be held open for the last month's interest, which will need to be either transferred separately a month later, or withdrawn upon payment.