Cash ISA customers offered assistance from OFT

Cash ISA customers offered assistance from OFT

The OFT has announced reduced time for transfers between providers of cash ISAs, as well as greater interest rate transparency.

The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has announced it intends to make the market more equitable for cash ISA customers, after a complaint from Consumer Focus regarding the ISA sector.

Following a 90-day investigation into issues such as ISA accounts, the OFT has declared that there will be a great reduction in the length of time taken to make transfers between cash ISA providers, dropping to 15 days from 23 and due to come into effect from December 31st.

It was recommended that the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and HM Revenue & Customs revise their guidelines to reflect the altered guidance, with the FSA to take action should the new timescales not be adhered to and providers ensuring that - should delays take place - individuals are left no worse off than they would otherwise have been if timelines had been met.

Furthermore, it was also affirmed that interest rates on cash ISA statements be published clearly, although it was decided that introductory bonus rates were not having a substantially harmful effect on people as they are informed when these come to an end.

"The voluntary changes announced today will give consumers a fairer deal and drive stronger competition. We are grateful to Consumer Focus for bringing these issues to our attention," senior director for services Clive Maxwell remarked, adding that this market is an important one for the economy as a whole as savings lend support to both businesses and households.

Interested parties can also download a copy of the report - in PDF format - from the OFT website.

Welcoming the development, the Building Societies Association's director-general Adrian Coles noted that it was a "constructive response" to the criticisms made by Consumer Focus.

He went on to say that the trust has accepted the need to make sure improvements to ISAs are made in order to uphold the standards set out by the OFT.

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