ISA

If you've got a Marcus easy-access savings account or cash ISA, you can boost your interest rate to 3.3% in seconds by activating its new 0.34% bonus. It's a no-brainer for those who don't want to switch, though you can get even better returns elsewhere.

Interest rates are up, so ISAs are back for many – yet you need to sort them by 5 April (or likely sooner).

Some 16-year-olds are struggling to open a Help to Buy ISA before the deadline at the end of this month because they haven't yet received their national insurance (NI) numbers. The problems come after a change to the way NI numbers are sent out earlier this year resulted in a massive backlog – if you're affected, here's what you can do about it.

Nottingham Building Society will launch its cash Lifetime ISA next Tuesday – making it only the second provider to offer this type of savings account, which offers a 25% bonus towards buying your first home or retirement.

The amount of new money saved in cash ISAs has dropped by a third in the past year, with almost £20 billion less saved in the 2016/17 tax year compared with the previous 12 months.

The first cash Lifetime ISA has already proved popular with savers, with thousands opened in the first week of its launch.

Skipton Building Society will launch the UK's first cash Lifetime ISA on Thursday. It'll offer an annual interest rate of just 0.5% – but crucially if you use one to save, you'll also get a 25% state bonus when you buy a home or turn 60.

The launch tomorrow of the new LISA (Lifetime ISA) looks like it's going to be a damp squib, with only a few providers offering them. Yet don't ignore it. After all, £1,000 of annual free cash is nowt to be sneezed at - and for first-time buyers, delay could cost.