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Paying money into an ISA
Paying into an ISA is called subscribing. You can subscribe to one of each type of ISAs each tax year, providing between them you do not subscribe more than your annual ISA allowance. For the current tax year that runs from the 6th April to 5th April your annual allowance is £20,000.
To subscribe to a cash ISA you must:
- Be aged 16 or over
- Be a UK resident for tax purposes
- Have not subscribed to another cash ISA in the same tax year
Help to Buy: ISA is a type of cash ISA and we allow you to pay into both a Ulster Bank regular cash ISA and a Ulster Bank Help to Buy: ISA during the same tax year, providing between the two you do not exceed your overall annual ISA allowance. You can pay into both, as we count them as one overall cash ISA subscription.
With a Help to Buy: ISA you can pay in up to £200 per calendar month. Any amount paid into a Help to Buy: ISA counts towards your overall annual ISA allowance.
Making withdrawals
Our instant access Cash ISA doesn't offer Flexible ISA functionality, so if you withdraw funds from it, you can't reinvest in the same tax year if your total deposits exceed your annual allowance.
For example: The ISA allowance is £20,000. If you pay £16,000 into your cash ISA and take out £500, you can only save up to £19,500 by the end of the tax year.
For Help to Buy: ISAs, you can pay in a maximum of £200 per month, so for example if you pay in £150 and then take out £50, you can only deposit another £50 that month.
Make further deposits
If you have a variable rate cash ISA, you can keep paying into it for as long as you like, providing you don’t go over your yearly ISA allowance. However, if you don’t pay into it for an entire tax year, you’ll need to reactivate your account before making your next deposit.
Reactivate your Cash ISA
You can reactivate your cash ISA in the mobile app or online banking - just click the 'Help' button and ask to 'reactivate my ISA'. Your ISA will be reactivated the next working day.
Transfer a Cash ISA
You can only have one cash ISA per tax year. If you want to move your current or previous cash ISA balances between providers, there’s a transfer process that safeguards your tax-free entitlement. Transfers can take up to 7 working days.
To transfer any existing ISA to us, take a look at our dedicated ISA transfer page.
Transfer a Stocks and Shares ISA to a Cash ISA
Transfers from stocks and shares ISAs to cash ISA take up to 30 calendar days to be completed and your existing stocks and shares ISA provider will sell your investments and send the cash to your new cash ISA provider. Your new cash ISA provider will then apply the cash to your account, keeping it within the ISA wrapper.
As with cash ISA transfers if you want to move current or previous tax years balances there’s a transfer process that safeguards your tax efficient entitlement.
Must be 16 or over and UK resident.