Top cash ISAs start to disappear

Andrew Hagger of Moneynet.co.uk comments on some of the key changes seen in the cash ISA market this week.

We're only two months into the new tax year, yet some of the more attractive cash ISA accounts have, in the last 7 days, either had their rates slashed or been withdrawn completely.

The Barclays Golden ISA for example, a best buy since the beginning of April has now had the 1% bonus withdrawn for any new accounts that are opened now. The table topping 3.61% AER has now been replaced by a more mediocre 2.58% AER.

If a fixed rate ISA was going to be your tax free savings choice then you'll have to cross the Halifax Direct Reward ISA off your wish list as it was pulled from the shelves on 30th May. This was a good all round ISA product in that it paid 3% fixed for 12 months, allowed you to transfer in previous years allowances and also offered 4 penalty free withdrawals during the year.

First Direct has chopped its ISA offering too, the e-ISA account which paid 3.06% has been withdrawn and replaced with a far less attractive 1.98% fixed rate product.

It's starting to look as if some providers may have reached their targets for ISA deposits already and are content to offer a poorer deal to those who have been slow off the mark.

So if you haven't invested your ISA cash for 2009/10, even though there are still 10 months still to run in this tax year, it may be prudent to make your choice sooner rather than later before some of the other top deals disappear too.