Banks yield to improvements for cash ISA savers

Well done Consumer Focus. It seems they've help make the system fairer for everyone.

23 days or 15 days what's the difference, I have been trying to get Santander to sort my transfer to them since early April

These changes are good, but why does it take 2 years to print the interest rate figure on a statement?

And why is the expense ratio of Unit Trusts not shown in their fact sheets and advertisements as it is in the US?

It is all eye wash and just like the FSA, the OFT too is a subservient poodle wagging its tail..

ISA Transfers- Not before time! Reducing transfer time between ISA suppliers from 23 days to 15 days is an improvement bur still far too long in this age of technology. I personally had to wait for over 5 weeks to recently transfer out from Bradford & Bingley to Santander, a ridiculous delay with resultant loss of interest. What are the banks doing with my money one wonders. No wonder no-one trusts them anymore.

Cash ISAs are in effect permanent savings, as they cannot be replaced if withdrawn. Why then are banks etc allowed to get away with offering any rates that are lower than taxed instant access levels? Surely they should be forced to match their own rates for ISA accounts with those they offer on non-ISA accounts, so the investor gets the benefit of the market level rate for savings AND the tax relief.

So it is going to take 2 years to show the interest being paid and I bet it will still be peanuts.

So much for:

" the industry has been listening to the concerns of customers and consumer organisations"

What a load of b******s

It is clearly ridiculous that an ISA transfer, that is essentailly a cash transfer, should take any longer than a normal cash transfer between banks.

I am currently awaiting transfers in to HSBC, it seems they have waited around 5 weeks just to send a letter to the old bank. That is just a frustrating and ridiculous amount of time and i will be complaining as much as i can about this. Why can't i just send the letter myself??

I wonder sometimes, if they just sacked all the bank staff and just let me use a computer terminal myself, life could be so much easier!!

They should show the current interest rate we are getting online (on our account page) so we can decide to switch our ISA much before and not have to wait an year to find out how c*** an rate we are getting!

At least the OFT has actually acknowledged the existance of banks in the last 13 years! The FSA could learn a thing or two, they seem to think the entire industry consists of peg legged one eyed IFAs who sail around on wooden ships drinkg plundering all the gold deblooms of the elderly people! ARRRR! I mean RDRRRRR!

all the banks are the same the are just out to make as much money out of us as they can. even when you call to complain it takes for ever for them to answer the phone. then when they do we pay for the call ?? to sort out there shite. The staff I feel a little sorry for because the just blurt out the banks line. that they are sorry they will look into it the are so busy with all the ISA aplications its just a load of B.S they are a bunch of cowboys taking us the public for a ride. its about time we got a new stlye of banker one who cares about us the savers and gave us service and a good saving's rate. they are just rubbish

My concern is that Bank Santandar will not be in existence by 2012.

why not?

is the Santander that ill?

I tried to transder ISAs from santander for 2 months, they are useles or dont bother to transfer

Barclays took a long time to transfer my ISA. A polite letter of complaint led to a cheque in compensation.

Santander must have been give a good kicking as I've just taken out a cash

ISA with A&L and transfered in from NCBC, in all the process took 6 days.

I recently transferred my Cash ISA with Alliance & Leicester/Santander to an existing Self Select investment ISA. I had expected the transfer to take a few days, enough time to take up the rights on National Grid.

As readers will be aware no such luck!

However, after I had called and belly-ached about the delay, the transfer took place in short order, although not in time to fund the rights call.

When I wrote to complain I got a wordy self-serving reply in which the writer fell back on the 'official' 23 days for justification.

I haven't taken the matter further but I am delighted to note that Consumer Focus has at least achieved some reduction in timescale.