Barclays, a wealth management service company, will pay 3.25% interest to any new and existing customer who opens a new ISA, but won’t do so on any ISA transfers. This is the top rate for people saving money, especially since Halifax pays 3% or 3.2% for those who have bank accounts with them.

However, many people planning to save money are expected to choose variable rate ISAs for the next tax year instead because interest rates are expected to go up within the next few months. But with the end of this tax year approaching, many people still don’t understand the benefits of ISA tax relief and how to use it to their advantage. For example, 95% of people surveyed by the Nationwide Building Society didn’t know what their total allowance would be, and 26% didn’t realize there was a limit on how much they could pay into their ISAs on a yearly basis. However, that isn’t to say that the ISAs aren’t benefitting consumers.

“We estimate that cash ISAs are saving consumers over £680 million in tax a year”, said Robin Bailey, Director of Savings and Investments for Nationwide. “What’s more, few people are taking advantage of their ISA tax relief by utilizing their stocks and shares ISA allowance, and are therefore missing out on the potential for even greater growth on their investments”.