Banking Without Borders
00:07:10 · Jan Watermann
[00:07:10] S1: We also have extremely competitive easy access cash ISEs this month. Let's start with eToro, which is actually up from 4.87% and it's now 4.94%. I think that's almost 5% extremely competitive for cash ISA. The only downside here it's a it's a money market fund they're essentially investing in, which comes with limited FSCS protection. Um, you're only getting 85,000 pounds instead of uh the normal 120,000 pounds. But besides that, yeah, not much of a downside. There's a minimum investment requirement of 500 pounds, and you are restricted to more than to only three withdrawals per year. Um, if you exceed that, you lose your 1% bonus, so that reverts to 3.94%, still somewhat competitive. Number two is trading 212 with their cash isa 4.87%. There's only a one pound minimum deposit, and this is a promotion that's running for new customers only. You have to sign up from Deposit Scouts table in order to take advantage of these 4.87%. If you don't, you're getting less interest. Um, so you definitely want to avoid that. And number three is Moneyfarm Cash ISA with 4.79%. Invest into a money market fund, so you get the same downsides that you would get with eToro. And I think for that, um, I would rather use eToro personally, but it's ranked third here. Chip has a smart cash ice available right now at 4.75%. Um, that's for new customers only. It's essentially 12 month bonus, expires after 12 months, so you need to make sure you set up your alarm. We have Ecology Building Society with the double access cash ISA, 4.65% next. Um, that can be opened with 50 pounds minimum. And I think there's no bonus component. So that's pretty attractive if you're looking for an account that is yeah, just good in general without any bonus. Agrius Landstone with their cash ISA is ranked fifth, I believe, 4.52%. Um, also here, no bonus, no cliff, um, and also no withdrawal limit. So a lot of options really gotta make a um yeah, make up your mind what's important for you. We're gonna link all of these accounts in the in the description below. Just uh pick whatever you think is right.
00:09:11 · Jonny Pease, Jan Watermann
[00:09:11] S0: Yeah, I think it comes down to whether you're comfortable with the money market fund or not, isn't it? It's it's it's like eToro or money farm. It's a personal decision. Happy to go with the money market fund entirely protected as well. If not, you've got chip trading 212. [00:09:23] S1: You're absolutely right, Jonny.
00:09:24 · Jonny Pease
[00:09:24] S0: You know, it's one or the other, isn't it? At least if you're chasing the top rate. The fixed cash ices are a wonderful, wonderful place to look to deposit money. I mean, the rates are incredibly competitive. Extremely competitive. Just wonderful. Let's just begin with the long-term cash icers. Aldermore at five years are paying 5.25% with a minimum of £1,000. Now that is the same as Shawbrook, both 5.25%, both £1,000 minimum. But the way we differentiate these two accounts is that one is a flexible cash icer and one is not flexible, and one is going to charge you 180 days of interest as a penalty for withdrawing, whereas the other one is 360. So Shawbrook aren't flexible, Aldermore are. Now, what I mean by flexible and non-flexible, simply put, if a cash ICER is flexible and you deposit money into it and then withdraw that money, you do not lose that amount from your cash ICER allotment for the year. Given the fact that these two share the same rate, it's obvious, in my opinion, that Aldermore would be a more compelling choice. Okay, it's flexible and it's only 180 days interest penalty if you want to withdraw money. Monzo, who'd have thought, hey? Monzo. They now have a very competitive three-year fixed cash ICE at 5.15%. I'm so happy to see them offering compelling rates, Jan, because for a long time they've kind of been a lot like Starling. They've really sat back on trying to compete in the market. But here we are, three years, 5.15% with a minimum of 500 pounds. It's a flexible ICE with an exit penalty of 270 days interest. Really good. They're matching Castle Trust as well at 5.15%, which has a minimum of a thousand pounds. How would you differentiate that apart from the minimum balance? Perhaps leaning on Monzo though, because simply it's digitized. Uh, the app is very fun, really easy to use, really powerful, really intuitive. And with that account, you're gonna get so many other benefits that Castle Trust simply will not provide. They they simply will not, will they be able to deliver the sort of experience that Monzo can? Two years, you've got Shawbrook, a plus account. When you see plus in brackets with Shawbrook's accounts, that means they are for new users only. That's paying 5.12% across two years with a minimum of 10,000 pounds. It's not flexible, it's not the best account.
00:11:43 · Jonny Pease
Castle Trust, I would probably push closer towards because they're paying 5.1% and it's new, existing, doesn't matter about that. It's got a lower minimum as well of a thousand pounds. And then Shawbrook again, one year fixed cash ICE of 5.02% minimum of 10,000 pounds. That's new customers only. And if you've had a Shawbrook account, perhaps, but you're looking for the best one year fixed cash ICE, Zopa at five percent. The thing with that is you'll have to open, you'll you'll have to open a free Zopa smart saver to get it. Only takes a few minutes to open, you know, a little bit longer to be verified. Super simple to do. I've done it myself. The key message here looking at this table, Jan, the gap between one year and five years is 0.23%, right? So if the bank hikes on Thursday and it say it continues going up next year, uh you're not going to get paid a huge amount more for locking away for five years when in it is possible that those five-year fixes could ramp up even more. I mean, how f how much farther further could they go if the bank hikes? Right. Look towards six percent. Um, so you know, it's not it's not financial advice, it's it's not a personal recommendation. If this was me, I'd be looking probably if I wanted to lock away um possibly a two-year fix at 5.1%, Castle Trust, for example, or or even just going to Zopa for the one-year fix, if if I wanted to fix.
00:13:06 · Jan Watermann
[00:13:06] S1: Yeah, you know, Jonny, I find it really interesting that um there's so many different providers ranking for top rates with uh fixed rate cash ISIS with fixed rate bonds, that's the absolute opposite. We have one name that's dominating literally every single term that we have in our comparison table to Afin Bank. Let's start with their one-year fixed rate bond, 5.17%. Um, only downside here, it's a thousand pound minimum, and that goes for all of their accounts, by the way, and it's app only. So if you're looking for a branch to manage it or website, can't do that, have to use your smartphone. But personally, I could live with that. Um, seems like manageable downsides to me. Um, if you say you have less than a thousand pounds to deposit, take a look at OakNorth, they have 5.12% for this one-year fixed. Um, two-year fixed looks slightly different, 5.28%. Um, so it's already a little bit more. If you're looking for alternatives with less than a thousand pounds to deposit, Vida or OakNorth, Vida has 5.26%, OakNorth has 5.21%, Afin's three-year account comes of 5.28%, and their five-year account comes of five point four percent. Wow, you know, almost 5.5%. Then you have to kind of round it up, then it's almost 6%. Uh so 5.4% extraordinary amount really is Jonny. Uh, have to mention that. Solid option in general. Would I fix for so long right now? Boah, you know, it's a it's a matter of your own philosophy, of your own savings goals. But um, personally, I'd be a little bit careful, uh, especially because the one-year fixes they're kind of competitive as well. You know, for me personally, I'm not not exactly sure I can commit money for so long into a savings account. I have other investment purposes personally, but you know, it depends on everyone and their personal philosophy and they can they can figure that out.
00:14:49 · Jonny Pease
[00:14:49] S0: Notice accounts, as always, are a bit of a funny story, aren't they? But let's talk about them because we've got the Stafford Building Society with the notice 365 days, 4.75%, minimum £25,000 investment. After that, we have the Bank of London and the Middle East at 90 days for 4.58%, minimum 10 grand. Uh, that is a Sharia account, so it's an expected profit rate, non-interest rate. Chetwood at 105 days, paying uh 4.47%. And then Birmingham Bank, who were interestingly last month's uh table topper, they are paying 4.4% with a minimum of £5,000. Um and if you drop below that minimum, once you've opened it, it will close the account. The top rate is Stafford Building Society at 4.75%. But just look at what you're signing up for, like a full year's notice and a £25,000 minimum. It's the same verdict as every month, isn't it, Jan? Unless you specifically want money, you can't raid on impulse. You know, if you're someone that really has a difficulty saving money, and perhaps you have a very important savings goal, but you want to have some accessibility uh that's maybe a lighter touch than a fixed account, then go notice. Otherwise, yeah, look at easy access. Or regular savers. I mean, even regular savers, Jan. Talk to me about those because that mark is also incredibly competitive.