A finance expert has shared some of the “top” savings accounts to put your money in ahead of an April deadline. On his Money Saving Expert (MSE) website, Martin Lewis highlighted some of the best ISAs currently available.

An Individual Savings Account (ISA) allows people to save money and earn interest that is tax-free. There is a yearly limit on how much you can have in an ISA.

Martin said: “Your money’s nicer in an ISA, and now it’s use it or lose it time! Top cash ISAs pay 4.68%, beating normal savings, though long-term shares ISAs are likely the winner.”

He continued: “The tax year, and thus the ISA year, ends on 5 April. Though it’s best not to leave it to the last minute as some providers shut their (virtual) doors early.

“If you don’t use this year’s allowance, you lose it. The good news, though, is providers, as normal, are ramping up deals this time of year while the focus is on ISAs.”

Every tax year, each adult in the UK gets a £20,000 ISA allowance to put money away tax-free in a cash ISA, or a shares (investment) ISA. “You can have all £20,000 in one, or split it across both types,” Martin said.

Top variable cash ISAs

According to Martin, there are currently the “top” variable cash ISAs (note that “variable” means the rate can change):

• Trading 212 – 4.68% including a year’s 1.08% newbie bonus.
• Plum – 4.66%
• Tembo – 4.55%

Top rate for ISA transfers:

Top fixed cash ISAs

These rates are locked in – meaning they won’t drop. Martin recommended the following one-year fixes:

• Tesco Bank 4.2% (min £1)
• Tandem Bank 4.2% (min £1)

He also highlighted these two-year fixes:

• Tandem Bank 4.16% (min £1)
• Furness BS 4.15% (min £1k)
• Nationwide 4.05% (min £1)

According to Martin, the key need-to-knows about ISAs are:

• You can’t carry over your ISA allowance, so 5 April is the last date you can fill this year’s ISA. After that, it closes
• You get a new ISA allowance on 6 April. To explain, if you haven’t used your ISA this tax year, and have enough money, you could put £20,000 in now, and another £20,000 in on 6 April (using next tax year’s allowance). Even if you don’t have enough to use next year’s, if it’s right for you, get the money in now, in case you have more to put away next year
• Once money’s in an ISA it stays tax-free year after year. The limit is on how much new money you can put in within each tax year. There’s no total limit on what you can have in ISAs. Some now have £100,000s in cash ISAs, having used many years’ allowances, and there are some shares ISA millionaires

Changes for 2027

From April 6, 2027, the annual Cash ISA limit for people under 65 will be reduced to £12,000 as part of a new two-tier system designed to encourage investing.

Although the total ISA allowance is set to remain at £20,000, the remaining £8,000 must be placed in Stocks and Shares or Innovative Finance ISAs.