Get PAID to start saving: Free cash, gift cards, and prizes up for grabs for new savers as well as for those willing to switch loyalties
Boosting your Isa savings is a welcome prospect at a time when interest rates are rock bottom and many are nervous about investing.
With the end of the tax year looming, an added bonus for savers looking to make the most of their tax-free allowance is the giveaways from banks, building societies, cashback websites and investment platforms.
Freebies such as cashback, gift cards and prize draws are up for grabs for new savers as well as for those people willing to switch loyalties and move existing Isas.
With the end of the tax year looming, an added bonus is the giveaways from banks, building societies, cashback websites and investment platforms
In some cases, you can stack rewards. For example, Foresters Friendly Society is offering Marks & Spencer gift cards worth up to £200. The value of the gift card depends on what you pay in.
Invest £20,000 to get the £200 one, and £5,000 will get you £50 to spend in M&S.
To be eligible, you must apply for one of its Isas online and continue monthly investments for three months, or transfer from another provider, by midnight on April 5.
If you open an Isa via a Topcashback account, you can earn a further £225 in cashback – so some savers would be a total of £425 better off.
There’s cashback available with a number of Isa providers at the moment. An investment Isa with Shepherds Friendly will earn you up to £305 a year via Topcashback if you commit to regular monthly deposits on an Isa.
On a Junior Isa you can earn up to £240. If you choose Scottish Friendly, you can earn £210 as long as you deposit more than £100 into a stocks-and-shares Isa.
Get £105 cashback as a new customer to Legal & General by making an initial investment of £500, with a direct debit of £100 a month or more.
Prize draws are popular this Isa season, too. Coventry Building Society is offering £500,000 worth of cash prizes to customers.
At Fidelity, existing savers who invest a lump sum before March 31 go into a prize draw to win back the amount paid in.
Hargreaves Lansdown has a £20,000 pot for new customers and those who top up their stocks-and-shares Isa before the end of the tax year.
TopCashback is now offering new members a £15 cashback bonus on any purchase when signing up before May. So that makes £440 for a Foresters ISA.
Savers at Nationwide can also win up to £20,000, by putting just £100 into an Isa. Nationwide will pay ten savers £20,000 — equivalent to the annual maximum that can be saved in an Isa.
The building society is also giving away ten prizes of £10,000 and 40 of £5,000. Switching loyalties can also be fruitful.
Fidelity is offering up to £500 in John Lewis vouchers for customers who switch their Isa from another provider before April 20.
The amount you get is tiered. You need to have a pot of £150,000 to receive the full £500. For between £10,000 and £14,999 you get £20 in vouchers.
Fidelity also covers to a maximum of £500 any exit charges applied for leaving your existing platform.
Experts warn that a decision on any Isa should not be guided only by a gimmick. Justin Modray, of advice firm Candid Money, says: ‘Freebies are a tried-and-tested marketing ploy by companies who know they can win business by offering a little something in return.
‘The important thing to remember is not to base your decision on freebies. ‘Check what investment options are available and what charges apply.
‘If choices are narrower, you might be limited. And if charges are much higher than rivals, then those higher costs will negate the cashback.’