Trading 212 offers market-leading 4.4% Cash ISA – ‘getting a real deal’ | Personal Finance | Finance

Investment platform Trading 212 is offering a market-leading easy access Cash ISA, in a new deal experts have praised as “great”. 

Cash ISAs remain a popular way to earn tax-free interest, with rates varying widely across the market. The current Cash ISA allowance remains at £20,000 per tax year until April 2027, when the allowance will drop to £12,000 for savers aged under 65. With just more than a year left to make the most of the larger threshold, savers are urged to review their savings accounts to find out if they’d benefit from putting their money in a tax-efficient ISA instead.

While interest rates are forecast to drop in the weeks to come as expectations for another Bank of England Base Rate cut ramp up for March, some easy-access Cash ISAs are still offering competitive rates. Here, we dive into some of the highest interest-bearing ISAs on the market at the time of writing.

Savers can bag the 4.4% AER on Trading 212’s Cash ISA by applying for the account through Moneyfactscompare.com, which includes a 0.80% promotional boost. The standard rate is 3.6%, with the bonus applied for 12 months.

Interest is paid monthly, and there is no withdrawal limit or account fees. The minimum investment is just £1.

The maximum annual investment, as per current Cash ISA limits, is £20,000, and savers must be at least 18 years old to open the account.

But there are only a few weeks left to snap up the enhanced rate. Customers must open a Trading 212 Cash ISA by March 2, 2026, to qualify. Plus, the promotional rate will apply only to new deposits made in the current tax year.

Commenting on the deal, Caitlyn Eastell, personal finance analyst at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk told Express.co.uk: “Savers could be getting a great deal, as the underlying rate is 3.60% AER.

“If investors are depositing the maximum £20,000 ISA allowance over a year, this could be a £166 difference. However, it is important that savers review their deal after it expires to avoid having their rate drop significantly.”

Opening and managing the account can be done through the Trading 212 app or website (via Moneyfactscompare.com). This ISA suits people who want to earn tax-free interest on their savings but also have access to their money at any time.

Withdrawals can be made without impacting your allowance, as long as they happen within the same tax year. This means you can withdraw cash and deposit it back in the same tax year and still get tax-free interest.

Additionally, you can transfer your ISAs in and out of Trading 212 without any restrictions or fees. However, your other broker may charge you a fee, so it’s important to check this.

While this rate with Trading 212 has the highest returns at the moment, it is not the industry-leading rate without the Moneyfactscompare.com deal.

Alastair Douglas, CEO of TotallyMoney told Express.co.uk: “The Trading 212 cash ISA is a good option for savvy savers looking to make their money work for them. It comes with a rate of 4.4%, offers flexible withdrawals, and zero fees – which is why I recently opened one for myself.”

He noted that those hoping to transfer a large amount of money will be capped at £20,000 each tax year, but “you could deposit that now, and the same again after April 5” when the new tax year starts.

Mr Douglas added: “The headline rate will also change in line with any Bank of England cuts, and you’ll lose the extra 0.8% bonus rate after the first 12 months.

“When shopping around, it’s important to keep an open mind. The big banks are notorious for poor rates, while smaller, challenger brands will often offer better options with the same regulated protection.”

For savers shopping around for top easy access Cash ISA deals, Plum’s Cash ISA offers a competitive 4.38% AER, including a 12-month bonus of 0.84%. Interest is paid monthly, and the minimum investment is £1. There are no restrictions on withdrawals.

Moneybox’s Cash ISA places just behind with 4.32% AER. It includes a 0.84% bonus for 12 months. Interest is compounded and paid monthly.

This account requires a minimum opening deposit of £500, and is available to new customers only. Savers should note that a lower rate applies if more than three withdrawals are made from a nominated account in a 12-month period.

Atom Bank’s Easy Access Cash ISA also places competitively with 4.25% AER. There is no minimum deposit set, and interest is paid monthly. There are no restrictions on withdrawals.

When using savings accounts that offer promotional ‘bonus’ interest rates, it’s important for savers to check their accounts again once the promotional rate expires, comparing them with other available accounts to ensure they are still earning a competitive rate.

Millions of people are expected to pay tax on their savings this year as more surpass their tax-free allowances due to rising interest rates.

The Personal Savings Allowance protects most savers from paying tax on interest in non-ISA accounts. However, the threshold for this allowance has not changed since it was introduced nearly 10 years ago. And while interest rates have been rising in recent years to levels not seen in decades, millions have been earning significantly more on their savings, leaving them more at risk of a tax bill.

Currently, basic-rate taxpayers can earn up to £1,000 in interest without paying tax, while higher-rate taxpayers have a £500 allowance. Additional-rate taxpayers do not receive any exemption and are taxed on all interest earned outside of tax-free accounts.

According to data from a Freedom of Information request by AJ Bell, around 2.64 million people are set to pay tax on their savings in the 2025/26 tax year – a figure that’s more than doubled in three years.

It means that one in 25 basic-rate taxpayers will pay tax on their savings this tax year, up from less than one in 100 four years ago.

One in eight higher-rate taxpayers will be giving a portion of their savings interest to HMRC, which is an increase from one in 25 four years ago. Additionally, 45% of all additional-rate taxpayers are now paying tax on their savings interest.

Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell, said: “With interest rates rising sharply, more savers are being dragged into the tax net without any policy change – it’s tax by stealth.

“What was once a tax affecting wealthier savers is now catching out everyday basic rate taxpayers. Many won’t realise they’ve breached their allowance until HMRC comes knocking.

“The Government may be benefiting from increased revenue, but many ordinary savers are worse off. Using tax wrappers like cash ISAs or investment ISAs is now more important than ever to protect your savings from the taxman.”

Figures disclosed to AJ Bell show the average person is paying £2,300 in tax on their savings, with an average effective rate of tax of about 31%. While tax is charged at the individual’s marginal rate of either 20%, 40% or 45%, the average rate of tax indicates the typical percentage sent to the taxman once tax-free allowances have been factored in.

Ms Suter continued: “The amount of income earned on savings has skyrocketed as interest rates have increased and tax bands have been frozen, creating a welcome windfall for the cash-strapped Treasury. Brits will earn around £20billion from non-ISA cash accounts this year, a more than fourfold increase over a five-year period.

“That boon for savers has turned into a bounty for the taxman. It expects to collect more than £6 billion when it takes its slice of the income earned by savers in the current tax year.”

First launched in 1999, Individual Savings Accounts (ISAs) are a tax-efficient savings or investment account available to UK residents. There are four main adult ISA types: Cash ISAs, Stocks and Shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs, and Innovative Finance ISAs.

Cash ISAs function like a standard savings account, but all interest earned is tax-free.

Stocks and Shares ISAs allow you to invest in shares, funds, or bonds, with all investment growth and income shielded from tax.

Innovative Finance ISAs are slightly more risky, but these accounts let you invest in peer-to-peer lending or crowdfunding platforms, with returns protected from tax.

Finally, Lifetime ISAs are designed to help people save for a first home or retirement, with an annual contribution limit of up to £4,000 and a Government bonus of up to £1,000 per year. The rules for this type of account are set to soon change.

There is a total ISA allowance that runs each tax year, starting from April 6 to April 5, and the maximum you can deposit across all your ISAs is currently £20,000.

You can split this allowance across different types of ISAs, and recent rule changes allow you to pay into multiple ISAs of the same type in the same tax year, provided you don’t exceed the overall limit.

To open an ISA, you must be at least 18 years old (or 16 for a cash ISA) and a UK resident for tax purposes. People aged under 18 can instead launch a Junior ISA, which allows tax-free savings of up to £9,000 per year.

From April 2027, people under 65 will only be able to pay in up to £12,000 of their overall allowance into Cash ISAs. This change was announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves during Labour’s Autumn Statement in 2025.

However, those aged 65 and older will still have the option to deposit the full annual allowance of £20,000 into their Cash ISAs if they wish.

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has said it will also introduce rules to prevent investors under 65 from using other types of ISAs to get around the lower cash limit.  

It comes as part of the Government’s goal to “ensure people’s hard-earned savings are delivering the best returns and driving more investment into the UK economy”.

Lowering the tax-free threshold on Cash ISAs aims to encourage people with more savings to invest in stocks and shares instead.

Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis described the change as “logical”. 

He said: “There’s logic in here based on the policy aims. While I would’ve preferred a carrot, not stick approach, this isn’t as bad as it could’ve been, £12,000 per year is still a reasonable whack for many people.

“The stated aim was not to raise revenue, but to encourage young people to invest rather than save, both for the economy, but also because on average it outperforms.

“When I met the Chancellor on this, I pointed out that a blanket cut to the limit would be perverse; to cut cash ISA limits for older people to encourage younger people to invest wouldn’t work.

“So, the carve out for over-64s makes total sense and I’m pleased she listened. What needs to happen along with this is better investment education, easier access to guidance, and better investment incentives for young people.”