Cash ISAs capped at 12,000 (a year)

Albermarle

Tommaso46 said:

My Kent Reliance Cash ISA will drop from 4.13% to 3.83% after 11 December. That’s a cut of 0.30 percentage points, which is  a MASSIVE 7.3% reduction relative to the original rate. So I'll be shopping around for a different provider. One that doesn't require an app because I don't keep any banking info on my phone.

Do not be too surprised if you move your money, and then the new provider drops the rate.

Tommaso46

I know. I'll wait for a while to see what's happening generally.

Kim_13

I don't keep any banking info on my phone bar Curve, but I do run apps on my iPad and they work without issue even though most of them are phone apps.

Aretnap

Tommaso46 said:

My Kent Reliance Cash ISA will drop from 4.13% to 3.83% after 11 December. That’s a cut of 0.30 percentage points, which is  a MASSIVE 7.3% reduction relative to the original rate. So I'll be shopping around for a different provider. One that doesn't require an app because I don't keep any banking info on my phone.

0.3% is well within the normal range of fluctuation that individual account rates do, in line with providers fundraising targets and whether they're in an expand your customer base phase or a profit from your existing customers base phase of their marketing cycle, let alone the effects of wider macroeconomic trends.

If you won't use the best buy accounts which require an app (which naturally have the best rates as that's how banks mimimise administration costs), that's going to have a much bigger impact on your returns than any tweaks the government makes to the ISA rules.

Tommaso46

Losing my phone or having it stolen is going to have an even bigger impact!!!

wmb194

Tommaso46 said:

Losing my phone or having it stolen is going to have an even bigger impact!!!

Have one that you only ever keep at home. Do you have an iPad or Android tablet? These will also run banking apps and work with their biometrics.

Pat38493

Youch

https://www.ftadviser.com/isas/2025/11/28/clients-to-be-charged-for-cash-like-investments-in-stocks-and-shares-isas/#:~:text=Nov 28 2025-,Clients to be charged for 'cash-like' investments,in stocks-and-shares Isas&text=People will not be able,lower limit for cash Isas.

You need an FT account to read this but don't have to pay.

According to this article, from April 2027, you will not be allowed to transfer S&S ISA funds to a cash ISA, and also, you will not be allowed to hold "cash-like" investments in S&S ISA.  If this is true, money market funds will be much less popular.

SnowMan

From the HMRC Tax-free savings newsletter 19 - November 2025, published 27 November 2025

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-free-savings-newsletter-19/tax-free-savings-newsletter-19-november-2025

The following rules will be introduced to avoid circumvention of the lower limit for cash ISAs: 

- no transfers from stocks and shares and Innovative Finance ISAs to cash ISAs

- tests to determine whether an investment is eligible to be held in a stocks and shares ISA or is ‘cash like’

- a charge on any interest paid on cash held in a stocks and shares or Innovative Finance ISA

These rules will apply to investors under the age of 65.
Industry will be consulted on the draft legislation, which will be made by amendments to the ISA regulations, and laid before Parliament well ahead of April 2027.

Aretnap

SnowMan said:

From the HMRC Tax-free savings newsletter 19 - November 2025, published 27 November 2025

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/tax-free-savings-newsletter-19/tax-free-savings-newsletter-19-november-2025

The following rules will be introduced to avoid circumvention of the lower limit for cash ISAs: 

- no transfers from stocks and shares and Innovative Finance ISAs to cash ISAs

- tests to determine whether an investment is eligible to be held in a stocks and shares ISA or is ‘cash like’

- a charge on any interest paid on cash held in a stocks and shares or Innovative Finance ISA

These rules will apply to investors under the age of 65.
Industry will be consulted on the draft legislation, which will be made by amendments to the ISA regulations, and laid before Parliament well ahead of April 2027.

So basically copying and pasting the rules that applied before 2014 then, with a new exception for over 65s.

m_c_s

Another mess of a policy and clearly aimed at grabbing more tax from cash or "cash like" savings when the 22%, 42% and 47% rates kick in.
The big problem is what will they define as "cash like" and how will mixed funds be treated?
Many non-100% equity funds probably have a short term bond, STMMF or even actual cash type assets in their porfolios.
HSBC Global Strategy Cautious fund (20% equity) for example often has 5 to 7% held in money market assets. The fund explicitly reserves the ability to invest in "money market instruments, deposits and cash" to manage day-to-day cash flow requirements and for efficient portfolio management.
It will just a chaos if they don't discount these type of funds.