A host of top cash Isas have been launched to mark the start of the new tax year today.
Early birds who want to use this year’s £20,000 allowance as soon as possible can now earn up to 0.92 per cent with easy-access accounts.
This is more than double the average rate of 0.38 per cent and far more than the 0.01 per cent to 0.2 per cent you will earn with big banks.
Best rates: Early birds who want to use this year’s £20,000 Isa allowance as soon as possible can now earn up to 0.92% with easy-access accounts
From this morning, a new top-paying online easy-access account is available with Shawbrook Bank. It pays 0.92 per cent on a minimum £1,000 deposit.
That will earn you £184 interest a year on the full £20,000 allowance compared with just £2 to £40 you will get from some big banks.
Skipton Building Society’s new Bonus Cash Isa pays 0.8 per cent on £1 or more. The rate includes a bonus of a 0.1 percentage point payable for the first year.
Nationwide has also put up the rate on its One Year Triple Access Online Isa Issue 12 this morning from 0.71 per cent to 0.8 per cent.
The account is complicated and you need to be ready to move your money in a year.
To earn 0.8 per cent you must restrict the number of times you take money out to three in the first year. If you make any more, your rate drops to 0.01 per cent.
Once you have held the account for 12 months, the society will switch your money into another easy-access account. You must then check the new rate.
Meanwhile, smaller building societies pay 0.8 per cent or more without complicated terms and conditions.
But some limit the account to those who live, work or study in its operating area or those who have a mortgage or savings account with it.
The best short-term fixed-rates Isas come from Shawbrook’s new account at 1.4 per cent for 12 months while Leeds BS pays 1.3 per cent fixed until May 1 next year.
You can put up to £20,000 into a cash Isa this tax year and not have to pay tax on any of your interest.
Basic-rate taxpayers can also earn their first £1,000 of interest a year in an ordinary non-Isa account — higher rate payers get a £500 allowance.
But with savings rates rising, you will hit this limit faster, which means you could be taxed with an ordinary account.
