27-05-2025
Chip boosts its easy-access cash Isa to pump it up the best buy tables - is it worth opening?
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Chip has boosted its easy-access cash Isa rate to 4.99 per cent as the competition to offer the best buy tax-free deal heats up once more.
The app-based provider has added a 12-month bonus to its easy-access cash Isa* of 0.93 per cent, boosting the overall rate to 4.99 per cent.
The new rate is available to This is Money readers who download the Chip app and open an easy-access Isa through the app. New customers must enter the code PROMOBOOST when prompted in the app.
The boosted rate means there is yet another reshuffle at the top of the Isa best buy tables, with Chip's deal now the best rate for an easy-access Isa with a 12-month bonus added.
It has overtaken Plum's* 4.98 per cent easy-access Isa deal, which was previously the best rate for an easy-access Isa with a 12-month bonus.
Chip's easy-access Isa has the added feature of being flexible, something Plum's easy-access Isa deal not have. This feature allows savers to deposit and withdraw their money without affecting their Isa allowance.
Savers can replace any money they withdraw from their Isa without it counting towards their yearly Isa allowance, as long as they replace the money in the same tax year.
Not all providers have this feature meaning funds withdrawn lose their tax-free status and will be taken off the allowance.
Once the bonus rate wears off after 12 months, Chip's revert rate is 4.06 per cent, far than Plum's revert rate of 3.29 per cent.
Customers who transfer an existing Isa to Plum's easy-access deal will also get a lower rate of 3.29 per cent.
Plum's Isa also limits withdrawals to four withdrawals in a 12-month period. The rate will drop to 3.29 per cent if more than four withdrawals are made over 12 months.
There are higher Isa rates available than both of these deals. Most contain bonus rates which drop off after three months.
CMC invest's easy-access Isa* is still the best overall deal. It offers 5.7 per cent with a three month bonus rate of 0.85 per cent. After this the revert rate is 5.06 per cent. The Isa is fully flexible and does not have withdrawal restrictions.
Moneybox is offering the best headline rate for an easy-access Isa of 5.71 per cent with a 1.51 per cent bonus rate for three months. After this the rate is 4.2 per cent. It allows three free withdrawals over 12 months, but if a fourth withdrawal is made the rate drops to just 0.75 per cent for the rest of the 12 months.
Trading 212's easy-access Isa deal* pays 4.86 per cent to new customers. This rate includes a 0.76 per cent bonus rate for 12 months. After this the rate reverts to 4.1 per cent, which is the rate existing customers receive. The Isa is flexible and does not have withdrawal restrictions.
What's in the fine print of Chip's deal?
Chip is an app-based provider so any savings accounts opened with it can only be opened through its app, including its easy-access cash Isa.
The easy-access cash Isa can be opened with deposits from £1 as often as you like. The interest is earned daily and paid monthly on the fourth working day of each month.
All money deposited in Chip's easy-access Isa deal is held by ClearBank, and is eligible for Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection of up to £85,000 per person.
This FSCS protection means savers' cash is protected up to £85,000 per person if the firm fails.