Hey
Recently had this email.
—
[On 1st May 2020], OakNorth (the bank that provides your Savings Pot) will be reducing the interest rate on your Easy Access ISA Savings Pot to 0.35% AER/Gross.
They’re doing this because the Bank of England reduced their base rate in response to the coronavirus outbreak, and that affects the interest rate they’re able to offer you.
—
An option is to move to the pot 0.93% AER/Gross, powered by Investec Bank.
Should we expect Investec to reduce their rate of interest in line with other banks? Is it worth moving the money having just entered a new ISA year for 2020/21
1 Like
I don’t think I would ever give away my ISA tax allowance willingly to another savings account outside of ISA protection , the 0.93% interest rate in Invetsec will be going soon and you would have lost that years allowance for ever if you remove it from your ISA , it can be invaluable in later years of employment / savings
I thought the Investec was also an ISA? Is there not a way in Monzo to swap money between ISAs to preserve the tax protection? Pretty sure most providers have a process for that?
2 Likes
yes, sorry i assumed Investec wasn’t an isa account
You’re right to be confused. There’s no easy distinction in the app that highlights which pots are intact an ISA as opposed to an easy/fixed term savings account
I get these options which seem quite distinctive 
I just didn’t read your post correctly
Ah interesting I don’t get the Investec ISA (green) option. Presumably because I already have an ISA. Wonder how I could transfer
I’ve noticed there’s no chat option in the app currently
1 Like
Search ‘contact us’ in the help section
1 Like
Has anybody actually transferred an isa from Monzo to another isa provider? Im thinking of opening a new isa with Virgin Money this new tax year @ 1.31% and was wandering how easy it would be to transfer as i dont appear to have a separate isa account number just my Monzo bank account details??
There’s a help topic in the app about this. Search for transferring ISA away
1 Like
from typing the question in the help section on the app
1 Like
Oh dear - so the only way to do this is to apply directly to Investec, robbing Monzo of their margin?
1 Like
The email says:
The highest Easy Access ISA Savings Pot interest rate available right now is 0.93% AER/Gross, powered by Investec Bank. To get this rate, you can close your current Savings Pot and open a new one by tapping on your picture in the top-left corner of the app. Then tap, “Earn interest on your money”.
Am I right in assuming that you can only deposit what you have left of the £20k quota for this current tax year?
For example, if you had saved £20k/year in an ISA for the last 2 years and had £40k - there’s no way you could actually move that there now (because you are not allowed to make any more deposits into an ISA). And if you waited until next tax year, you could still only deposit £20k of it into the new ISA? If so, I’m surprised the email doesn’t mention this and just encourages closing the old pot 
I’ve asked in the app so when they get back to me I’ll post it here
3 Likes
If the receiving provider permits it (not all do) you can transfer existing ISA funds in. They don’t count in your allowance. That way you can achieve an ISA which is a consolidation of a number of separate ISA accounts accumulated over years.
And yes, regarding new money, you can only deposit a maximum of 20k minus what you’ve already deposited this tax year.
NEVER close an existing ISA fund unless you’re happy to lose tax-free status. The receiving provider will initiate the process for you once you’ve decided on the transfer,
My comment was specifically about the text quoted from the email. Monzo appear to be telling people to close the old one and open a new one to get a better rate, with no mention of the implications (or that you might not be allowed to deposit the full amount you withdraw - something I dont’ think their app enforces so presumably is on your own head).
I’m just gonna leave things as they are (on the assumption the rate of the other one might get slashed anyway). I think Monzo could be clearer in their communications about this though 
2 Likes
Yep, I understand. You’re right too, the guidance is misleading and potentially detrimental.
Monzo haven’t really fully embraced the ISA product yet, partly perhaps because they don’t offer one of their own.
1 Like
Am I right in thinking that if the Investec ISA looks like it may remain higher interest, you could open one next tax year (after 6th April) and deposit up to £20k into it, as long as you don’t also deposit into the previous rate OakNorth one (eg. you could have an OakNorth one with up to £20k for this tax year, and an Investec one with up to £20k next tax year)? You don’t need to keep depositing into the same single ISA every year?
3 Likes
yes, and you can also then move the previous tax years ISA into a higher interest bearing ISA as long as you use the correct method of transfer and the receiver accepts transfers in
2 Likes
