Barclays customers who applied for the Tax Haven Cash ISA have received apologies from the bank following significant delays before their accounts were opened.
An apology is all they are going to receive though it appears as Barclays has stated it will not pay the interest that investors would have accrued if the accounts had been opened on time. It seems that a particularly heavy demand for the ISA created a number of administration difficulties for Barclays leading to delays in accepting applications and opening the accounts.
Assuming the person applying for the Barclays ISA had invested the maximum allowed of GBP3,600, they would have lost around GBP9 in interest so far. This in one way is not a vast amount of money, but the underlying principle is of much greater importance. Multiplied by the number of people taking out this particular Tax Haven Cash ISA it also becomes a much larger sum.
Compare rates on ISAs from Barclays and many others at Moneygossip.co.uk
Egg, best known for the Egg credit card has just introduced a new bond that is linked to the FTSE100 performance over the next 3 years.
Called the FTSE 26 percent guaranteed equity bond, Egg card customers who invest in it will enjoy FTSE 100 index gains made over and above the starting level of the bond up to a maximum of 26 percent. Should the index finish lower than the starting point of the investment then customers are guaranteed the whole of their capital invested back.
An Egg card spokesman suggested the investment bond would suit customers who are naturally cautious but would like the chance to earn a higher return than that offered by simple deposit accounts.
Two new offshore savings accounts have been announced by Alliance and Leicester, called the eSaver Offshore Notice 50 and eSaver Offshore Issue 2.
The issue 2 Alliance and Leicester Offshore savings account replaces the original one and now pays interest at 6.25 percent gross p.a, variable. The Notice 50 savings account is better suited to those who can keep the money in place, or at least give good notice on withdrawals. This one offers a 6.35 percent interest rate on balances of GBP25,000 and over, again gross p.a.
An Alliance and Leicester spokesman explained that it was customer demand that had brought these new savings accounts to the market. They combine excellent interest rates with flexibility and so meet customer requirements very well.
