ISA transfer experiences

Steve_xx

ISA transfer from Castle Trust to Barclays.

A bit of advice please. I opened a Barclays easy access ISA to collect a maturing fixed rate ISA from Castle Trust Bank on 12 December. I inadvertently closed the Barclays ISA on 12 December and I can see that the money has left Castle Trust Bank and is nowhere to be seen.

Will it appear back at Castle Trust?

clairec666

Transfer hasn't completed yet, but so far I've had a good experience transferring a maturing Virgin fixed rate ISA to a Natwest fixed rate.
I'm always a bit nervous selecting the "wait until maturity" option, and usually wait until after maturity to do the transfer.
Email from Natwest acknowledging that the transfer was on hold until the fixed term had expired.
Messaged Virgin with an enquiry about maturity options, and they responded very quickly.
Good service all round from both providers.

subjecttocontract

It does seem, in my experience, that ISA transfers generally have improved over previous years. Of course there will be the occasional problem transfer but it seems a bit quicker and slicker than in the past.

Newly_retired

I have a YBS ISA maturing on 31 December.

I could transfer it on maturity to either NatWest or RBS recently opened fixed rates whilst the window is still open (until 6 January from memory) @ 4%  for a 2year fix. Any other ideas, given the current rate drop?

Ocelot

Newly_retired said:

I have a YBS ISA maturing on 31 December.

I could transfer it on maturity to either NatWest or RBS recently opened fixed rates whilst the window is still open (until 6 January from memory) @ 4%  for a 2year fix. Any other ideas, given the current rate drop?

I have a 3 year YBS ISA maturing on 31 Dec too. I opened a 3 year Charter ISA at 4.14% last week, and they give you 30 days to fund.

RG2015

RG2015 said:

Ford Money to RBS

I opened an RBS 1 year fxed ISA paying 4.20% on Friday, and it appeared in my online banking this morning. They said 2 working days so 3 is possibly just acceptable.

Today I requested a full balance transfer from Ford Money (FCE Bank UK) on the RBS app. I know that Ford Money use Barclays as their bank, so I did not put in the account number and sort code. All I entered was my 7-digit ISA account number.

As reported on this thread, there was no text or email acknowledgement of this from RBS. Neither was there any indication of timescale. I will post again if I receive any communications from either RBS or Ford Money.

Edit 17/12/25 19:42
I have just seen that the rate for new accounts has been reduced to 3.80%. It's pretty clear that RBS are expecting a base rate reduction tomorrow/

Ford Money to RBS Timeline

Tue 16/12/25 11:00, Requested ISA transfer

Fri 19/12/25 10:00, Email and text from Ford Money, confirming acceptance of ISA transfer request.

Mon 22/12/25 08:00 (or earlier), Account showing as closed in Ford Money with closing interest added and full balance transferred to RBS and zero balance remaining in FM. Nothing showing in RBS.

Mon 22/12 25 11:30, Full balance plus interest has appeared in my RBS ISA account!

Overall, with 4 working days to transfer, I am most impressed. Especially given the bad reviews given to RBS for their ISA transfer performance.

jak22

Re. discussion on this or another thread, of the process of opening a new ISA with a request to transfer in an existing ISA delayed until maturity.

There does seem to be an extra step with some banks that at maturity, instead of doing the transfer on that date, they only message the new bank to confirm maturity has happened and then wait for this to be received by the new bank and for them to communicate something back to the current bank to make the transfer.

It looks like immediate transfers can be quite quick, but it's worth considering this extra step with funding windows, weekends, bank holidays, etc.

jak22

This example is Ford, who move transfer funds to a 1YR fix at the rate current at maturity notification. Without instruction they move to a fix of the same term as previous - so moving transfer funds to a 1YR fix is a little strange - a flexible ISA seems best as a fix locks-in after 14 days. At least their maturity rate is the same as their advertised rate, unlike any who offer a poorer rate.

There can be emails confirming a transfer request, but what actually happens between banks seems more complicated; while the email says "We will hold the request on file until your account matures ... Once this date is reached, we’ll then proceed with your request." proceeding turns out to be more steps. 

Newly_retired

Transfer from Santander to RBS 1 yr fix@ 4.2%
RBS opened 2 December.
Had to wait for it to show online to request transfer.
Email from Santander informing me of impending transfer, probably 10 December.
Transfer arrived 10 December.

TheBanker

I did a transfer from Trading 212 to Virgin.

• Submitted form online on 13/12 (Saturday)
• Received request from T212 to authenticate via their app on 19/12 (Friday)
• Funds appeared in Virgin on 22/12 (Monday)

I was impressed. Given some of the complaints I've read about T212 I was expecting this to take longer.