Cookie policy
Follow this topicFollow this topic Knowledge » ISAs

Top Cash ISAs for transfers

lovemoney staff
by Lovemoney Staff lovemoney staff on 16 May 2013  |  Comments 13 comments

Not all Cash ISAs allow you to transfer existing ISA funds in. These ones do....

Top Cash ISAs for transfers

Here at lovemoney.com HQ, we regularly bang on about the importance of opening a Cash ISA. After all, these accounts are a great way for you to save tax-free.

Of course, if you’re one of our many savvy readers, you probably already have one. But even so, that doesn’t excuse you entirely.

After all, do you know what rate of interest your ISA is currently paying? And are you sure it’s competitive?

If not, we’d suggest finding out now. And if it’s not paying a decent rate of interest, it’s time to move those funds elsewhere.

Unfortunately, there’s just one snag with this. Sometimes you’ll find that the very best interest rates are for Cash ISAs which don’t allow transfers in from existing ISAs, meaning you can only open them with fresh funds – a bit of a pain to say the least.

For a round-up of the top ISAs for the 2012/13 tax year, regardless of restrictions, head for the The UK’s best Cash ISAs.

Here we're going to look at the best Cash ISAs that do allow transfers in. Unfortunately, in common with other savings products, rates continue to plummet, but here are the best around now.

Easy access

The table below highlights the best easy access Cash ISAs that allow transfers in.

Account

Interest Rate (AER)

Minimum deposit

Access

Cheshire BS ISA Saver (Issue 3)

2.30% (includes 1.80% bonus until 31st October 2014)

£1,000

Online, phone, post

Harpenden BS Simple ISA

2.25%

£1

Branch, post

Nationwide BS Web ISA (Issue 3)

2.25%

£10,000

Branch, post, online

Virgin Money Easy Access Cash E-ISA (Issue 4)

2.15%

£1

Online

Barclays Instant Cash ISA (Issue 1)

2.10%

£1

Branch, online, phone

Stafford Railway BS Cash ISA

2.00%

£1

Branch, post

So how do these rates compare with those Cash ISAs that don’t allow transfers in? Pretty favourably…

Notice ISAs

If you don't think you'll need to access your ISA money, then you could instead opt for a notice ISA. Historically, they have generally paid better interest rates than easy access ISAs. Sadly that’s not the case at the moment, but here are the best anyway.

Account

Interest Rate (AER)

Minimum deposit

Access

Need to know

Earl Shilton BS 90-Day Cash ISA

2.25%

£10

Branch, post

Only open to existing members or people living in the postcodes LE, CV9-13 and DE11-15. Transfers from existing members only. 90 days’ notice required for withdrawals.

Triodos Bank 90-Day Notice Online Cash ISA

2.16%

£10

Online

90 days’ notice required for withdrawals.

Aldermore 60-Day Notice Cash ISA (Issue 2)

2.10%

£1,000

Online, phone, post

60 days’ notice required for withdrawals.

Bank of Cyprus 35-Day Cash ISA

2.00%

£500

Branch, post, phone, online

35 days’ notice required for withdrawals.

Kent Reliance BS 60-Day Notice ISA Issue 5

2.00%

£1,000

Branch, post, online

60 days’ notice required for withdrawals.

Mansfield BS 30-Day Notice ISA

2.00%

£3,000

Branch, post

30 days’ notice required for withdrawals.

Fixed rate cash ISAs

If you’d prefer to tie up your savings for a year or more, you could usually earn a higher rate of interest with a fixed rate cash ISA. However, at the moment only a handful of fixed rate ISAs are paying more than the top easy access ISA, and you will need to lock your money away for five years!

But for the sake of comparison, here are the top-paying fixed-rate Cash ISAs across a range of timespans that accept transfers in.

Provider and account

Interest rate (AER)

Term

Minimum investment

Access

Virgin Money Fixed Rate Cash E-ISA Issue 42

3.00%

Five years (Fixed until 24th May 2018)

£1

Online

Virgin Money Fixed Rate Cash ISA (Issue 43)

3.00%

Five years (fixed until 15th May 2018)

£1

Branch, post

Principality BS Five Year Fixed Rate ISA (Issue 109)

2.75%

Five years

£500

Online, branch, post

Bank of Scotland Fixed Cash ISA

2.45%

Four years

£500

Online, branch, phone

United Trust Bank Five-Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA

2.45%

Five years

£5,000

Branch, post

KRBS Two-Year Flexible Fixed Rate Cash ISA (Issue 9)

2.40%

Two years

£1,000

Online, post, branch

Virgin Money Fixed Rate E-ISA (Issue 41)

2.40%

 Three years (fixed until 24th May 2016)

£1

Online

Virgin Money  Fixed Rate Cash ISA (Issue 42)

2.40%

Three years (fixed until 15th May 2016)

£1

Branch, post

Bank of Scotland Fixed Cash ISA

2.40%

Three years

£500

Online, branch, phone

Julian Hodge Bank Five-year Fixed ISA

2.40%

Five years

£5,760

Post

Halifax ISA Saver Fixed

2.35%

Five years

£500

Online, branch, phone

Nationwide Four-Year Fixed Rate ISA

2.30%

Four years

£1

Branch

Halifax ISA Saver Fixed

2.30%

Four years

£500

Online, branch, phone

Halifax ISA Saver Fixed

2.25%

Three years

£500

Online, branch, phone

For a comprehensive round-up of all the latest Cash ISAs read The UK's best Cash ISAs.

This article is regularly updated with the latest rates

More on ISAs and savings:

Compare Cash ISAs
The UK's best Stocks and Shares ISAs

The top fixed-rate savings bonds

 

Enjoyed this? Show it some love

Twitter
General

Comments (13)

  • lemon20000
    Love rating 5
    lemon20000 said

    To Mrinsane, I dont like regular savings as you dont get the 8% for the whole of your savings for the whole year, you only get the 8% for the very first month then it reduces so that by the twelth month, you would only get one twelth of 8% as the last payment of the year would only be there for one month. I hope that makes sense. To put it another way, your first payment is there for the whole year so you would get 8% on it. When you get say, six months into your regular saving, then the payment you make at that time will only be there for 6 months, therefore you would only get a percentage of the 8% because the 8% is only payable on savings that have been in your account for a whole year.

    With regard to ISA's, my kids started saving £1 a week a some years before leaving school. At the earliest opportunity they put their savings into an ISA, just a instant access but still saving that £1 a week. When they saw it growing they saved even more and we also put some in for them and when they got enough, they put it into a 5 year deal when interest rates were good at 6.2%. They all still have thier first ISA which they put away for 5 years at a time to get a good rate but they also have an instant access which they save into to build it up to put away long term.

    Report on 07 February 2013  |  Love thisLove  0 loves
  • Meduza
    Love rating 5
    Meduza said

    does anyone know how to contact the cheshire BS except of the 0808 phone with queries?

    i hate when i have to pay for premiums. i googled and found out that number is free, but when i dialed it, it said that it is chargeable from mobile. they have no e-mail address visible and the hyperlink always opens my outlook which is not set for any e-mail address and i dont want it to be.

    i want to switch my isa as the one i have is having the interest falling in these days to the laughable figure.

    or: what does the charitable clause mean? i am a total analphabet in this area. the same have the derbyshire BS, where i may open a saving account soon.

    Report on 14 February 2013  |  Love thisLove  0 loves

Post a comment

Sign in or register to post a reply.

Related content

Our top deals

Provider & account name AER/Gross Interest paid Apply
now

Aldermore
1 Year Fixed Rate Account

1.85% /
1.85%		 On Maturity Apply

Derbyshire BS
Derbyshire NetSaver Issue 11

1.70% /
1.70%		 Yearly Apply

Nationwide BS
MySave Online Plus

1.70% /
1.69%		 Monthly Apply
W3C  Thank you for using CGWEBLIV2