S&S ISA - uninvested cash interest rates, why not shown on MSE frontpages?

jungleboy123

Pardon my silliness and this could be a very obvious and silly questions but i couldn't find the answer.

I've seen lots of ads online where you can open S&S account but you can hold uninvested money in there and earn interest (i think sometimes the uninvested interest is higher than the Cash ISA savings account for a bit). Some of the ads ive seen (been a little while now) show interest rates higher than current cash ISA rates, for a set period. Why like Cash ISAs doesn't the MSE page have a list of these and shows how much interest that pays?

Also, my understanding is that uninvested cash held in a S&S ISA potentially does not have guaranteed FSCS protection like traditional Cash ISAs would. Hopefully this is correct?

Thanks.

jimjames

Probably because holding cash in a S&S ISA should be an occasional situation and not something planned to get interest. I have cash when I'm waiting to invest but my platform pay no interest at all. If you're using a S&S ISA then the intention should be to invest not hold cash as will be the case as of 2027.

friolento

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6664917/s-s-isa-uninvested-cash-interest-rates-why-not-shown-on-mse-frontpages

Which S&S ISA offers better interest for cash holdings than cash ISAs?

Why would you hope that uninvested cash does not have FSCS protection?

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81969998#Comment_81969998

Trading212 would be an obvious example, paying 3.8% on S&S ISAs and 3.6% on cash ISAs if you don't qualify for the promotional rate as a newbie.

But the OP will be disappointed, as cash in a S&S ISA has FSCS protection. It is still Client Money and ringfenced from the investment platform. Where it is held in a bank that fails, you'd have a claim up to £120k, and if the FCA authorised investment platform fails, it would form part of your £85k protection for missing assets. To the extent it is held in QMMF, you'd have protection up to £85k if the fund house failed, assuming it is UK domiciled (which is also true of cash ISAs that use QMMF).

wmb194

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81969937#Comment_81969937

T212, IG Invest and CMC Invest all pay 3.3%+ on their GIAs and ISAs. Except to rip-off their customers there's never been any reason why stockbrokers can't pay interest.

friolento

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81970012#Comment_81970012

I get 4.3% in my cash ISA, and there's a whole bunch of cash ISAs paying over 4%. https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/isa/easy-access-cash-isas/?quick-links-first=false&product-favorites-first=false&sort-order=AER&sort-order-text=Rate

Obviously there are also derisory rates below 3.8% but 3.8% isn't even in the top 20, or may be not in the top 30.

I can't think of a good reason why anyone would seek out an S&S ISA for the purposes of holding cash.

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81970065#Comment_81970065

I don't think anyone should pay it much attention either, although it can be a useful fringe benefit when wishing to phase cash into the market or derisk money ahead of drawdown (if one would have to pay a trading fee to buy and sell a money market fund).

Rather like the current accounts that pay interest (but not at a table-topping rate). How I miss the high interest current accounts of the past!

friolento

The LHV current account is pretty good at 4% right now. Albeit not good enough for me to ditch my main current account which I use as a nominated account in countless savings and investment accounts. I also appreciate they are a bit of an outlier.

Altior

It's very useful for liquidity, an alternative to MM. If you're that type of investor that has capital sitting out of the market for an opportunity, then the funds are instantly available. And if there is a significant market event, getting cash out of MM funds quickly could be problematic.

EthicsGradient

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81970350#Comment_81970350

Mine pays 3.75%, not 4%, and that's what's advertised on their home page - tracking the BoE base rate.

There is a limit is £20,000 out of the LHV current account per month (payments to outside the bank, not to their savings accounts). So it probably is a good idea to use something else as a nominated account.