Invest your interest – FAQs

 

What is invest your interest and how does it work?

It’s a new feature that lets you invest any interest you earn above £1 with your Cash ISA or Simple Saver into your Stocks & Shares ISA each month.

It’s a simple way to help grow your money – we’ll invest your interest directly into your investment allocation, so you don’t have to lift a finger!

You’ll be able to invest your interest as long as you have a Simple Saver and/or a Cash ISA with a combined balance of at least £5,000!

You can set up invest your interest and change your settings in the Moneybox app by heading to Settings > Invest your interest.

 

How often is interest moved?

Interest is paid on the 1st of each month, and will be moved automatically into your Stocks & Shares ISA the next working day.

From there, it will be invested into your investment allocation, and this can take up to five working days to settle.

Your interest will continue to be invested each month unless:

• You switch this feature off in the Settings tab by navigating to Settings > Invest your interest and tapping ‘Stop investing interest’
• You reach your full £20,000 ISA allowance for the tax year (Simple Saver to Stocks & Shares ISA only)
• Your monthly interest amount is less than £1

You’ll need to enable this feature on or before the 1st of the month for that month’s interest to be invested.

 

Where is the money invested?

Your interest will be invested directly into your chosen investment allocation. If you’d like to change your allocation, head to Settings > Allocations > Stocks & Shares ISA > Change Allocation.

If you currently have ‘save now, invest later’ turned on, you’ll need to switch to one of our Starting Options or choose a custom investment allocation before you can invest your interest, as it’s not possible to automatically move interest to your Available Cash.

 

What happens if I’ve already maxed out my ISA allowance?

If you’re moving interest from a Cash ISA to a Stocks & Shares ISA, this doesn’t count towards your annual ISA allowance as the money is already held within an ISA wrapper – so you can invest your interest even if you’ve contributed the full £20,000 for the tax year!

However, moving interest from a Simple Saver to a Stocks & Shares ISA does count towards your annual ISA allowance. If you’ve already reached your £20,000 limit, we’ll automatically pause your invest your interest payments until the new tax year begins and your allowance resets.

 

How can I switch off the feature?

You can turn off invest your interest at any time in-app by heading to Settings > Invest your interest and tapping Stop investing interest.

 

Can I change the account from which my interest is transferred?

Yes! If you have both a Cash ISA and a Simple Saver with a combined balance of at least £5,000, you can choose which account your interest is moved from.

Just head to Settings > Invest your interest and select your preferred account.

You’ll only be able to move your interest to your Stocks & Shares ISA.

 

Why hasn’t my interest been invested this month?

If your interest payment is less than £1, we won’t invest it that month.

Your interest payment will still be added to your Cash ISA or Simple Saver as normal, it just won’t be invested unless it reaches at least £1!

We’ll automatically stop investing your interest if:

• You close, cancel, or fully transfer out your Cash ISA or Stocks and Shares ISA
• You close or cancel your Simple Saver
• Payments into your Stocks and Shares ISA are frozen
• You change your investing allocation to ‘save now, invest later’

Once payments into your Stocks and Shares ISA are resumed, or you select an investing allocation, if you’d like to start investing your interest again, you can do so by heading to Settings > Invest your interest.

Please note, if you cancel within the cancellation period or fully transfer out, you won’t be able to set up invest your interest again for that account.

 

What happens if my balance falls below £5k?

If your balance across your Cash ISA and/or Simple Saver falls below £5,000 and you have invest your interest already enabled, your interest will continue to be invested each month, provided it’s £1 or more!

However, if your monthly interest value falls to less than £1, we’ll skip that month and resume once your monthly interest is over £1.

 

Why can I no longer access invest your interest?

In order to set up invest your interest, you’ll need to have at least £5,000 in your Cash ISA and/or Simple Saver. The account must be active, it cannot be closed, cancelled or transferred out.

Please note, if your Stocks & Shares ISA has been cancelled within the cancellation period or fully transferred out, you won’t be able to set up invest your interest. 

 

What accounts are included?

At the moment, invest your interest is only available for a Cash ISA and Simple Saver, and interest can only be moved into a Stocks & Shares ISA!

 

Where can I track my invest your interest payments?

You can track your payments with invest your interest by going to Wealth > Tap your account > Activity. 

You’ll be able to see the interest being paid out from your Cash ISA or Simple Saver, and the corresponding investment into your Stocks & Shares ISA.

To manage or turn off this feature, head to Settings > Invest your interest.

 

Will transferring interest from my Cash ISA/Simple saver impact my withdrawal options?

No – moving interest from your Cash ISA and/or Simple Saver to your Stocks & Shares ISA through invest your interest doesn’t count as a withdrawal, so this won’t affect your withdrawal limits or cause any penalties.