Savings update: get the best Isa rate before the deadline
3rd April 2019 10:59
by Sylvia Morris from interactive investor
Savers have until Friday 5 April to use up their £20,000 Cash Isa allowance for this tax year.
The best deals on tax-free accounts are typically online. For easy-access accounts, they include Paragon’s Limited Edition Easy Access Cash Isa at 1.45%, OakNorth’s Easy Access Cash Isa at 1.44%, and Shawbrook’s Easy Access Cash Isa at 1.43%.
There are other accounts with rates around the same level, or even higher, but they often come with stricter terms.
For example, Santander’s e-Isa pays 1.5%, but to qualify for the account you must also be a Santander 1|2|3 World or Select customer. The headline rate is payable for only 12 months, after which your money is transferred into the bank’s Isa Saver, which has a much lower rate.
Virgin Money’s Double Take E-Isa pays a competitive 1.45%, but you are restricted to two withdrawals a year.
Nationwide pays 1.4% on its Loyalty Single Access Isa, but you must have been a member of the society for at least a year and you can make only one withdrawal a year.
Yorkshire Building Society’s Single Access Isa, which pays 1.46%, limits you to withdrawals on one day a year, and after a year your money is moved into an account that pays less interest.
On fixed-rate Cash Isas, the best one-year fixed-rate accounts are on offer from Shawbrook Bank at 1.77%, OakNorth at 1.76%, and Charter Savings Bank at 1.75%. For two years, Charter Savings Bank pays 1.95%, and OakNorth 1.92%.
On easy-access taxable accounts, Kent Reliance’s Easy Saver Online pays a top 1.5%.
Goldman Sachs’ Marcus account and Virgin Money also both pay 1.5%. The Marcus account includes a bonus of 0.15 percentage points for the first year, while Virgin Money’s Double Take online account limits you to two withdrawals a year.
The most that you can earn on a one-year fixed rate bond is 1.97% from Shawbrook Bank followed by Close Brothers Savings at 1.96%.
For two years, PCF Bank pays 2.26%, while Aldermore, Close Brothers and Tandem all pay 2.25%.
This article first appeared on our sister website Money Observer
This article was originally published in our sister magazine Moneywise, which ceased publication in August 2020.
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