How it works
The NS&I Direct ISA offers tax-free returns, and a straightforward and secure way to manage your money. And our Direct ISA also gives you the convenience of managing your account by telephone and online.
What’s more, as NS&I is backed by HM Treasury, you can rest assured that your savings are completely secure.
- NS&I - 100% security for your money
- Tax-free returns
- How to apply
- How to make deposits and withdrawals
- Debit card clearance
- Keeping track of your money
- Making sure your account is secure
- Your password
- I already have a cash ISA - can I transfer it to an NS&I Direct ISA?
- Your right to cancel
- Protecting your personal information
- Our commitment to good service
NS&I - 100% security for your money
At National Savings and Investments, we’ve helped savers look after their money for nearly 150 years. Today almost 27 million people entrust their savings with us. They’re safe in the knowledge that all their money invested with NS&I is backed by HM Treasury, giving you 100% security for your money. All guaranteed – no matter how many accounts or bonds or how much invested.
Tax-free returns
Unlike normal savings accounts, cash ISAs are totally tax-free. This means that you don’t pay UK Income Tax on the interest earned and you don’t 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.
The interest rate is variable, which means it may change from time to time. Click here to check the current rate.
Interest is calculated daily 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.
How to apply
Anyone resident in the UK for tax purposes, and aged 16 or over can open an NS&I Direct ISA (the UK does not include the Channel Islands and Isle of Man.) You can apply either online or by calling our UK customer service team on 0500 500 000 between 7am and midnight. Please have your debit card ready. The card must be in your own name and issued by a UK bank. You can open an account with a minimum initial deposit of £100.
Once you’ve opened your Direct ISA, you can manage it by phone and online only. You can make deposits and withdrawals, check your balance, get details of previous transactions and update your details on the phone and online.
How to make deposits and withdrawals
The maximum investment for any one tax year is £5,100. If you’d like to add to your Direct ISA on a regular basis, you can do so by standing order with a minimum payment of £50. Find out more and download a standing order form. You can also make deposits at any time by debit card or electronic bank transfer, again with a minimum of £50.
You can take out money from your cleared balance at any time with no notice and no penalty. The minimum withdrawal is £50. You can either go online or phone us on 0500 007 007 and we will transfer the money into your nominated bank or building society account.
Debit card clearance
Once your account is open, you’ll start earning interest on all deposits from the day we receive them. Debit card deposits will be available for withdrawal from the seventh working day (ie excluding weekends and English bank holidays).
For example, if we receive your debit card details on a Monday, your payment will be cleared on the Tuesday of the following week. After close of business on the seventh working day, you can be certain that the money will not be reclaimed from your account as a result of the payment not being authorised. Allow one additional day for each English bank holiday.
We will start to process your debit card payment as soon as we receive it, so please make sure you have enough money in your account at the time.
Keeping track of your money
Once your NS&I Direct ISA is open you can manage your account 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. You’ll be able to pay money in or take it out, check your balance, review recent transactions, and change your personal details whenever you want on our secure website. You can also call and speak to us on 0500 007 007 between 7am and midnight every day.
Once a year we will also provide you with a statement. This will give you a record of all payments in and out of your account, as well as details of the interest your money has earned.
Making sure your account is secure
With NS&I you can rest assured that managing your Direct ISA on our website is safe. We use many different layers of security to help protect our customers. We can’t talk about them all, but they include:
- we only allow access to our website through secured networks designed to prevent unauthorised activity
- all of our servers are constantly updated with the latest security patches and anti-virus software
- customers’ personal information is only held on protected systems that have no direct public access
Read more about our Online security.
Your password
When you open an NS&I Direct ISA online you’ll need to supply a password and other security information as part of your application. We’ll use this information to confirm your identity whenever you use our online or phone services. As with all security information, you must keep your password secure.
If you open your account by phone, we’ll ask you to provide some security information as part of your application. We’ll then send you a temporary password in the post.
Before you can manage your NS&I Direct ISA online or by phone, you will need to change this temporary password to one of your own choice. You will be prompted to do this when you log in to NS&I's online services, or call us on 0500 007 007 for assistance.
You must keep your password and security information secret and take care not to record it in a place where anyone else could discover it.
Read more about our Online security.
I already have a cash ISA – can I transfer it to an NS&I Direct ISA?
We don’t accept transfers from other providers to our Direct ISA. However, you can transfer an NS&I Cash ISA to a Direct ISA. Call us free on 0500 007 007* to find out how to do this.
Your right to cancel
If after opening your account you decide it does not meet your needs, let us know within 14 days of receiving your welcome letter and we will help you change to a different account or refund your money with any interest due. If you cancel within this time you can open another cash ISA within the same tax year.
Here are our contact details:
National Savings and Investments
Glasgow
G58 1SB
Fax 0141 636 8744
Email contact us
Telephone 0500 007 007
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.
Our commitment to good service
We are committed to providing you with a high standard of service. 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. To find out more, you can download a copy of our complaints procedure leaflet or contact us and we’ll send you one.
