Transfer Your Cash ISAs 2.3% easy access, 3% fix on old AND new ISAs

A cash ISA is just a tax-free savings account. You don't need to lock the cash away, many are easy access, and most accept transfers of previous years' ISAs.

A lot of old best buy ISAs are now paying rates as low as 0.1% if yours is, you can transfer to boost the interest up to 40 times. Look for the top-paying ISA provider to max returns. All the accounts in this daily-updated guide allow transfers.

What is an ISA?

If you have savings, and aren't using an ISA (Individual Savings Account), then you're over-engorging the taxman's pocket. A cash ISA is simply an untaxed savings account. Get the top payer and it's a big interest boost.

You can deposit around £5,760 each tax year, at any time between April and April the following year (this limit rises by RPI inflation each April) and you should be trying to earn as much interest as possible.

As cash ISAs began back in 1999, it's now possible to have around £50,000 plus interest tucked away in them; but if you've not kept your eye on the rate, it's probably dropped lower than a limbo dancer. Luckily, you're free to switch your ISA money about, meaning it's possible to surf a wave of high, tax-free rates. That's as long as the account's rules allow transfers, and not all of them do.

For 12 years now, whether on telly, radio or in m'book, I've used the same analogy to explain ISAs. So why stop now? Here come the cakes! For a more detailed explanation of ISAs, including what happened to the old mini and maxi rules (don't worry, it still includes the cakes) see the full ISA Guide.

Why transfer your ISA?

Cash ISA rates move and change. The best buys a few years ago may be paltry players now. By transferring you can ride the wave of the highest rates, while keeping your cash in the tax-free wrapper. On £20,000 savings, some can gain £800/yr.

It's also possible to fix the rate or up the risk you're taking to get much higher potential returns by using different types of cash ISAs. More on that later.

You can also transfer money from old Tessa-Only ISAs (or Toisas). If you had a Tessa, the tax-free forerunners of ISAs, it's possible some of your cash was swept into a Toisa once the Tessa matured. If your cash is still there now, the top picks here will accept that transferred in too. Find out more in the Toisa section.

Any reason not to transfer?

You may be charged a penalty by your current provider for transferring out. This is becoming less common, but always check. A small penalty like 30 days' lost interest isn't such a big issue, but a higher fee effectively locks you in, as the gain from switching is gazumped by the transfer charge. If your ISA has a penalty for leaving, work out if you'll actually be better off by switching to the better interest rate.

How to transfer: The golden rule!

Transferring an ISA allowance is a technical process, not just like switching a normal savings account. Yet as long as you abide by the golden ISA transfers rule, it should go smoothly.

Never, ever, ever, ever withdraw money from a cash ISA!
You'll immediately lose all the tax benefits.

Instead speak to the new provider and fill out a transfer form. This will usually include a note you can send to your existing ISA company. Your new company should then sort it all out, including moving the money over for you, keeping your tax benefits intact.

The banks have agreed to a 15 working day guideline for the transfer to take place, so you should begin to receive interest within this time. If it goes much over 15 working days, it's worth complaining to the ISA provider.

The rules

Like ISAs themselves, the transfer rules are unnecessarily complicated. The two key ones are:

• Not all transfer types are allowed. You can transfer a cash ISA into a shares ISA, but not the other way around.
• Only past years' ISAs can be split. Current-year cash ISAs must be moved whole, but previous years' allowances may be split between different providers.

These rules are explained in full in the comprehensive ISA Guide.

ISA transfers FAQs

Cash ISA transfers are often an area of confusion. To help clear up fact from fiction, we've put together a quick Q&A.

How safe are your savings?

Bank collapse was once easy to dismiss, then the credit crunch and global market turmoil hit. The UK soon found itself bailing out Northern Rock, and the US authorities followed for even bigger bank Bear Stearns. These days every sensible saver should ask: is my money safe?

The answer's quite simple. Provided your money is in a UK-regulated bank or building society account, it's protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Its golden rule counts for ISAs too...

The first £85,000 per person, per financial institution is guaranteed.

Sadly, this is the simple face of savings safety; the exact rules are more complex, involving how different banks are registered and what counts as a financial institution. For full info on the rules, see the detailed Are Your Savings Safe? guide.

How to maximise safety

Unless you've done very well in terms of earning interest, any cash ISA balance is unlikely to top this £85,000 limit, so there's likely to be no problem. If you have further savings in other accounts with the same bank or building society, then in the unlikely event that it went bust only the first £85,000 is fully guaranteed. For total peace of mind, don't put more than this in any one institution; spread it around.

For those with very large amounts of savings (for example, from a house sale), this could lead to lots of accounts. Even if you've too much to stick to the £85,000 limit for each one, the general rule of not having all your eggs in one basket still works.

This guide and best buys

It's impossible to pick "which bank is in trouble?". We've seen great names of world banking like Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch in trouble. Therefore the only solution for this site is that we'll report the top rates regardless, alongside explaining any protection oddities. So far, world governments have reacted to protect their banks and no savers have lost money, and it's likely (though not certain) this will continue.

The UK's top rate cash ISAs

Not all cash ISAs accept transfers in, especially the top paying ones. Their high rates are intended to grab headlines and new customers, but cost the banks as little as possible. Yet at the moment, most of the top paying cash ISAs do allow transfers in, which is great news!

As cash ISAs are generally 'variable rate', meaning they move both with the Bank of England base rate and for providers' own competitive reasons, always check every six months or so that your rate is still competitive. If not, transfer to a better payer. For alternatives to monitoring interest rates, read the Fixed Rate Accounts section.

It's also worth checking how quickly you'd be able to access your money. We list the top transfer-accepting ISAs, but some of these accounts may have withdrawal restrictions or penalties. If you might need it, make sure the ISA you pick allows you to easily access your money.

Unless stated, all the accounts have full protection under the £85,000 per person, per institution rules. Though do check how institutions are linked and other notes in the safe savings guide.

Top rates

Best buys: Linked accounts

Check your local building society

On occasion a few small building societies may beat these with special deals for people in their locality, or for existing customers, so it's worth checking yours. All these rates are variable, meaning providers can change the interest whenever they like. Therefore always monitor what yours pays and transfer again if it drops. For more options and alternatives, read the Top Cash ISAs guide.

The top fixed rate accounts

If you're willing to lock your cash away, there are some alternatives to monitoring interest rates. But remember...

Fixed rate ISAs give a guaranteed rate for a set period, but you can't take your money out during that time.

Therefore, they're only suitable for those who are happy to lock cash away for the entire term. You lose the flexibility to ditch and switch to a better payer if the rate is no longer competitive compared to others, or if something changes in its safety stakes.

While your money is supposedly locked away for one to five years, providers are forced to permit withdrawals, usually with an interest penalty of up to 365 days. However, they may not allow transfers to other ISA providers, meaning you'd have to lose the tax benefits to get at the cash.

Yet currently, that's balanced out because fixed rate ISAs offer slightly better rates than the easy access variable accounts. This is because with fixed rates providers get surety that you won't want your cash back until a set time, allowing them to plan their lending strategies better.

Inflation-beating ISA savings

An alternative to fixing is to get an account which gives you a rate guarantee for a certain period. However, usually you have to lock cash away for up to five years, so only go for it if you are totally sure you won't need access. Unfortunately, savings rates are poor at the moment so there aren't any available - see full details in the Inflation-Linked Savings guide.

Want to up the risk?

If you want to up the risk, and potential reward or loss, on your cash ISA money, it's possible to transfer your cash ISA into a shares ISA (but not the other way around). Read the full ISA Guide.

What about Toisas?

The Tessa-only ISA, tongue-twistingly known as a Toisa, was another special tax-free product. Old style Tessas, the forerunner of the cash ISA, lasted for five years and then matured. If this occurred any time between 1999 and 2004, the TESSA automatically turned into a Toisa.

Since April 2008, all Toisas have become simple cash ISAs, meaning all normal ISA rules apply. You can no longer add any more funds to an old Toisa, but if you have any money left in one, you can transfer it, and up the rate, to any of the accounts above.

The size of the saving

The benefit from transferring the full £44,640-worth of cash ISAs
	Rate	Total interest			Gain
		1 year	2 year	3 year
Dunfermline BS Direct Cash ISA	0.25%	£112	£224	£336	-
Santander Direct ISA Saver	2.5%	£1,116	£2,260	£3,432	£3,096
For ease of illustration, calculations assume variable rates remain constant (or you transfer when rates drop)

If you have the full £44,640 (all 13 years' worth) in Dunfermline Building Society's very poor 0.25% interest instant access cash ISA, it would earn just £336 in interest over three years. This compares to £3,432 with Santander.