Barclays cash ISA

born_again_saver

Lokolo wrote: »

And lets be honest here, 14th March not late? When can people start opening ISAs? Tell me again? Lets see about this 366 days in the year, he leaves 15 working days (21 - 6 weekend).....

Barclays only launched the Tax Haven ISA on 3rd March 2008. See here for their press release dated 27th February 2008 announcing the launch: http://www.newsroom.barclays.com/Content/Detail.asp?ReleaseID=1321&NewsAreaID=2
Martin first mentioned the account in his weekly email on 5th March: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/tips/05-03-2008/

Given the above, I'd hardly say the poster was leaving it late by applying to Barclays on the 14th March, when the ISA had only been launched 11 days previously.

It's surely more Barclays' fault for leaving it so late in the tax year to launch the ISA, without ensuring they had the resource to handle the demand. They must have known demand would be huge, given the market leading rate and the problems experienced with last year's Barclays Tax Beater ISA which were documented here by so many people last year.

If you've had a good experience with the account then great, but it doesn't mean that others experiencing problems have therefore done something wrong as you seem to have assumed.

Lokolo

I actually meant the 14 days as a general overview of the whole year, not the Barclays ISA in particular.

And yes they most probably knew the demand was huge but its not like you go to yourself 'Ok lets have a new promotion for a new ISA, I can say that there will be exactly 14,513 people applying for this' can you?

Don't forget they have their own department for ISAs so clearly they have tried to prepare, its not like they're leaving it all to nothing. Also they have stopped accepting applications last week to try and handle it, so its not like they haven't been trying.

And honestly, I do feel they have done something wrong, they are expecting things to go fine and dandy, 3 weeks before deadline when you get told it can take upto 2 weeks to sort out (as I have been told when I applied).

Also the fact is, Scoobys orignal complain was that he/she couldn't find out how to pay into the account, whereas later on, TommyLee posted exact details which he could easily find, just by finding out for himself.

I do believe the internet is awesome at finding out information, all someone has to do, is google

Also I did get told that this happened last year with a lot of people, complaining etc. that its taking ages to open accounts (not with Barclays, but as you did say, it did happen), and yet people haven't learnt, isn't itself an idication people shouldn't leave it til the last month?

Arch_23

well in my case I only received the initial funds 4 weeks ago.

Lokolo

Why does that mean you couldn't have opened an ISA earlier? Usually they only rely on a £1 deposit which anyone (ok most people) can afford.

Open early and avoid disappointment.

born_again_saver

Lokolo wrote: »

Also I did get told that this happened last year with a lot of people, complaining etc. that its taking ages to open accounts (not with Barclays, but as you did say, it did happen), and yet people haven't learnt, isn't itself an idication people shouldn't leave it til the last month?

Many of the Barclays Tax Beater ISA problems last year pertained to account openings at the start of the 2007-8 tax year, so the more organised people who didn't rest on their laurels were also badly affected. This is why I'm personally going to wait a week or two and see how it all pans out before committing my money to any particular ISA.

I agree it's best to try and get your money into an ISA earlier in the tax year if you can, but there are all kinds of reasons this may not be possible (e.g. funds being tied up elsewhere in bonds or fixed term accounts), not just leaving it to the last minute.

Also, it could be pointed out that it is often recommended to wait and see what rates are offered close to the end of the tax year, as many ISA providers do a bit of a promotional push at this time, launch new products, and rates get slightly more competitive. Prior to the Barclays Tax Haven ISA the best buys were at least 0.2% below 6.5% (with the notable exception of the Lloyds TSB ISA offering 6.5% for balances transferred in of £9,000 or more).

What I don't understand is why Barclays are restricting the online opening of this ISA to its current account holders only, thus flooding their branches with people and clogging up their surely overburdened ISA processing centre with all the paperwork. It just seems such an outdated, time-intensive and costly way of doing things, particularly when the best buys these days often tend to be available exclusively online.

If they're wanting to slyly encourage people to open their current account too by allowing only current account holders to open the ISA online, then why don't they have done with it and make having their current account an essential requirement for opening the account?

bristolleedsfan

born_again_saver wrote: »

Also, it could be pointed out that it is often recommended to wait and see what rates are offered close to the end of the tax year, as many ISA providers do a bit of a promotional push at this time, launch new products, and rates get slightly more competitive. Prior to the Barclays Tax Haven ISA the best buys were at least 0.2% below 6.5% (with the notable exception of the Lloyds TSB ISA offering 6.5% for balances transferred in of £9,000 or more).

What I don't understand is why Barclays are restricting the online opening of this ISA to its current account holders only, thus flooding their branches with people and clogging up their surely overburdened ISA processing centre with all the paperwork. It just seems such an outdated, time-intensive and costly way of doing things, particularly when the best buys these days often tend to be available exclusively online.

If they're wanting to slyly encourage people to open their current account too by allowing only current account holders to open the ISA online, then why don't they have done with it and make having their current account an essential requirement for opening the account?

Barclays Taxbeater ISA was available at the start of the 2007/08 Tax year so im not sure how that tallys with the best deals being available at the end of the tax year.

Many providers do their promotional push at the start of the tax year, I also recall good fixed rate deals being offered after a few months of the 2007/08 tax year and indeed in October 2007.

Nationwides 6.15% fixed rate has been in force since 6th July 2007. ( see above)

Sorry in the current climate of expectations of lower interest rates i dont believe that a 6.31% applied variable rate / 6.50% A.E.R variable rate ISA can be considered higher than a 6.25% fixed rate ISA which is why i shall be opening a 6.25% fix on monday.

Are u saying that where people "apply" online for a Barclays ISA that it "opens" itself without going to the "over burdened ISA processing centre".

Where people have been applying at branches by appointment they have not been reporting that Barclays have been trying to encourage them to open a current account "slyly" or otherwise.

It should be noted that many ISA providers have delays re account openings, its taking Nationwide three weeks to process transfer in cheques, people seem to believe that only Barclays have backlogs.

As far as cheques being returned that shouldnt be returned, this comes down to many people believing that they are good at their job when in fact they arent. :rolleyes:

snarffie

Just applied for a new Tax Haven ISA online.

Let's see how long it takes to process this year.

TommyLee

Lokolo wrote: »

Also the fact is, Scoobys orignal complain was that he/she couldn't find out how to pay into the account, whereas later on, TommyLee posted exact details which he could easily find, just by finding out for himself.

I do believe the internet is awesome at finding out information, all someone has to do, is google

Point 1/

I only FOUND this info, when Mark, my neighbour handed me the small info pack he was sent after opening his Tax Haven ISA!

Point 2/

I have personally looked this morning all over the Barclays website and can find NO SUCH INFO ................ so I guess that's WHY scooby emailed them (Barclays) to ask???

Point 3/

Have you actually GOOGLED for this info ..............? I thought NOT!


BARCLAYS introduced this ISA .............LATE, and if THEY could not handle the extra custom, They only have themselves to blame.

What we should be asking is, IS the Tax Haven CARROT (i.e. their high rate, with bonus) REALLY worth the hassle of joining their particular scheme?

I personally THINK NOT ........... now? :rolleyes:

Lokolo

I did point out earlier that in their T&Cs 2.2 it says how to deposit money......

And if you don't feel as though its worth it, fine, go elsewhere, but you're likely to get the same problems opening an ISA mid March with a decent rate, as everyone is going to go there to open them before the new tax year.

born_again_saver

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Barclays Taxbeater ISA was available at the start of the 2007/08 Tax year so im not sure how that tallys with the best deals being available at the end of the tax year.

Many providers do their promotional push at the start of the tax year, I also recall good fixed rate deals being offered after a few months of the 2007/08 tax year and indeed in October 2007.

Nationwides 6.15% fixed rate has been in force since 6th July 2007. ( see above)

I did actually state that the Tax Beater ISA was available at the start of the 2007-8 tax year, however they withdrew it in May (?), this must have been due to the overwhelming demand. I recognise that a lot of good deals are available at the start of the new tax year as well as at the end of the last, but these promotional drives do understandably tend to cause hordes of people to all bag them up at once. Hence personally I'm going to wait a couple of weeks and look out for any reports of delays and problems.

I opened up the Nationwide fixed rate in January 2008 myself

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Sorry in the current climate of expectations of lower interest rates i dont believe that a 6.31% applied variable rate / 6.50% A.E.R variable rate ISA can be considered higher than a 6.25% fixed rate ISA which is why i shall be opening a 6.25% fix on monday.

Fair enough, if you have the full £3,600 ready to subscribe for this tax year then I think that's sensible. I and many others won't, have and so I'll be looking for an ISA which lets me build up the balance gradually until I'm also ready to transfer to a fixed rate deal, if that is still looking like a good idea at the time. I've got an inkling that interest rates could be back on the up in a year's time because of inflation, but it's anyone's guess really.

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

Are u saying that where people "apply" online for a Barclays ISA that it "opens" itself without going to the "over burdened ISA processing centre".

No, not at all, but it is surely going to be a lot more automated and therefore less work for both Barclays branches and for their ISA processing centre if the bulk of applications are made online. It can't be a coincidence that their online applications are sorted out much faster than in-branch ones?