Personal Finance News
What our customers say..."Good work keep it up !"
Moneynet comments on the Halifax ISA service shake up
Moneynet comments on the Halifax ISA service shake up
Andrew Hagger of Moneynet.co.uk comments on the announcement from Halifax that amongst a number of promises, it will pay interest from the date an ISA transfer application is received.
If we are to have any chance of maintaining consumer confidence in tax free savings particularly when rates are so poor, it needs to be a straightforward and painless process to manage and move your money between providers.
It is good that Halifax has decided to grasp the nettle and agree to pay interest on ISA transfers from the moment it receives a completed ISA transfer application. They have set the benchmark with this proactive shake up of their processes and others will surely follow this lead or risk losing competitive advantage.
Every year that passes the more important that ISA interest delays become to consumers, especially those who have been maximising their tax free allowance and have in some cases amassed a capital sum of over £40,000. A 15 day delay on such a balance at 3% could see them miss out on almost £50 in lost interest, and in some cases the transfer delay is much longer than this.
There has been precious little for savers to smile about in the last 18 months with rates hitting rock bottom and inflation more than wiping out the value of their meagre returns, but industry driven initiatives such as this will help restore savers faith in providers seen to be striving to give them a fairer deal
For the ISA scheme to continue to grow it needs to be free of obstacles, red tape and complications and offer the customer ease of use and absolute transparency.
ENDS
Published: 29/09/2010
The information in this article was correct at the time of publication and contains time sensitive data and links, it may not be accurate at the time of reading.