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How it works

You work hard for your money. And the income you receive has already been taxed once. So why let yourself be taxed on the interest earned by any savings you manage to put away? Opening a Cash ISA with NS&I is just like opening a normal savings account, only you don’t pay tax on the interest you earn.

• NS&I – 100% security for your money
• Tax-free advantages
• Opening and using an NS&I Cash ISA 
• Cheque and debit card clearance
• All about interest
• Saving regularly
• Keeping track
• Transfers from other ISAs
• About the terms and conditions
• Protecting your personal information
• Our commitment to good service

 

NS&I – 100% security for your money

National Savings and Investments is backed by HM Treasury, so any money you invest in our Cash ISA is 100% secure.

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Tax-free advantages

With a normal savings account you are liable to tax on the interest you earn. However, cash ISAs are completely tax-free – so you don’t pay UK Income Tax on the interest and there’s no need to declare it on your tax return.

The government has promised to keep ISAs indefinitely. The tax treatment of ISAs may change in the future.

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Opening and using an NS&I Cash ISA

Anyone can open a cash ISA as long as they are over 16 and resident in the UK for tax purposes. (The UK does not include the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.) You can start your NS&I Cash ISA with just £10, and then make further deposits of £10 or more whenever you wish – up to a maximum of £3,600 in any one tax year. There are lots of ways of paying into your NS&I Cash ISA – we’ll send you details once you’ve opened your account.

You can also withdraw money from the cleared balance in your NS&I Cash ISA whenever you want, with no notice and no penalty. We’ll send it to you within seven days – either directly into your bank or building society account or by warrant (like a cheque). If you need it in cash, we can arrange for a special type of warrant that you can cash in at a Post Office® branch (for amounts up to £300 at a time).

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Cheque and debit card clearance

Once your account is open, you’ll start earning interest on all deposits from the day we receive them. Cheque and debit card deposits will be available for withdrawal from the 7th working day (ie excluding weekends and English bank holidays).

For example, if we receive your cheque or debit card details on a Monday, your payment will be cleared on the Tuesday of the following week. Allow one additional day for each English bank holiday.

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All about interest

Interest is calculated on a daily basis on balances of £1 and over, and is credited to your account once a year on 5 April. When you withdraw money, it stops earning interest on the day we issue your payment.

Interest rates are variable – find out the current rate.

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Saving regularly

If you want an easy way to build up your savings, you can set up a standing order. Once set up, your bank or building society will pay your chosen amount into your Cash ISA automatically every month. The minimum for each deposit is £10.

Remember – you can only invest a maximum of £3,600 in your NS&I Cash ISA in each tax year, so make sure that your standing order payments won’t take you over this limit.

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Keeping track

To help you keep track of your NS&I Cash ISA, we’ll send you a statement twice a year – in April and October. And if you register for our telephone service, you can call us any day of the week to check your balance and get details of recent transactions.

We’ll send you details of how to register for our telephone service shortly after you open your account.

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Transfers from other ISAs

If you already have a cash ISA with another provider, you can transfer it to an NS&I Cash ISA. Contact us and we’ll explain how to do this.

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About the terms and conditions

Please read the terms and conditions before you invest. If we make any changes to the terms and conditions after you invest, we will let you know. If any change is to your disadvantage, we will tell you personally at least 30 days before the change.* In this case you can switch to another product or close your account, without notice or penalty, within 60 days of us telling you. For any other changes, we will let customers know by updating this website.

* Please note, this does not apply to changes of interest rate, which will be notified on this website, in Post Office® branches and in a range of national newspapers.

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Protecting your personal information

When you become a customer of ours, we will treat all the personal information we hold about you as private and confidential. Find out more about our privacy policy. 

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Our commitment to good service

As part of our commitment to providing you with a high standard of service, we subscribe to the Banking Code. If we make a mistake we’ll aim to put things right quickly and without fuss. And if you have a complaint, we have a procedure designed to resolve it fairly. We are also covered by the Financial Ombudsman Service. Find out more about the Banking Code or our complaints procedure.

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