ISA stands for Individual Savings Account. The main difference between an ISA and any other savings account is that it offers tax-free interest payments, so you could get more for your money. There is a limit to how much money you can put into an ISA in each tax year, which is called the ‘ISA allowance’.

To be eligible to subscribe to an ISA an investor must be an individual, aged 16 or over (if subscribing to a cash ISA), or 18 or over (if subscribing to a stocks and shares, innovative finance ISA, or a Lifetime ISA).

• Cash ISA, is simply a tax-free savings account.
• Stocks and Shares ISA, is a tax-efficient investment account that lets you put money into a range of different investments. These include unit trusts, open-ended investment companies (Oeics) and investment trusts, as well as government bonds and corporate bonds.
• Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA), allows you to make peer-to-peer (P2P) lending investments within a tax-free wrapper. This allowance can be fully invested in an Innovative Finance ISA, or spread across the different types of ISA. You can also transfer funds from existing cash or stocks and shares ISAs into an IFISA.
• Lifetime ISA (LISA), can be held alongside other ISAs, but has a £4,000 annual allowance (which is part of your overall £20,000 allowance).
• Help to Buy ISA, can be held instead of a Cash ISA,
• Junior ISA (JISA), is designed for under 18s.

If you already hold an ISA with us in the current tax year, please do not apply for another as we are not able to open a second ISA for you.

HTB will only offer a Cash ISA.

A Cash ISA may only be held by an investor in his or her sole name. A Cash ISA cannot be a joint account or held on behalf of a person other than the account holder.

The total amount you can save in ISAs in the current tax year is £20,000.

The minimum amount you can pay in to a Cash ISA is £1.

HTB ISAs can be opened online.

Yes, you can view your account online.

We are required by law to verify your address and identity and we will try to do this by checking various electronic databases. If we are unable to verify you in this way we may ask you to provide some documents to help us complete our checks. Please read more here.

If we ask you to send documents to us we will still open your account and you will be able to pay money into it. However, you will not be able to withdraw money until we receive the documents we require. If you do not send us the documents within 30 days we will close your account and return any money deposited.

Yes, you can transfer your savings to a different type of ISA or to the same type of ISA. If you want to transfer money you’ve invested in an ISA during the current year, you must transfer all of it. For money you invested in previous years, you can choose to transfer all or part of your savings.

You can transfer your Individual Savings Account (ISA) from one provider to another at any time. Please click here to download our ISA transfer application form.

You can pay money into your account by sending an electronic payment (Faster Payment or CHAPS) to your Hampshire Trust Bank sort code and account number, which we will tell you once we have opened your account. If you open your account online we will provide your sort code and account number at the end of the application. However you apply, we will write to you to confirm your sort code and account number as soon as we have opened your account.

You can also pay money into your account by cheque. We will usually bank your cheque on the working day that we receive it. You should make the cheque payable to yourself and send it to us at our freepost address: Freepost RTXE-RYYB-AYZY, Hampshire Trust Bank, Savings, PO Box 74003, London EC2P 2QR.

Any instruction to break the term of your Bond Cash ISA will be subject to an early redemption fee as set out in the Key Features Document. If you ask us to break the terms of your Bond Cash ISA, we will pay funds to your nominated account net of any such early redemption fee.

When you apply we will ask you to give us a nominated account, which must be a current account you hold with a UK bank. We will check the nominated account details you give us and occasionally we may need you to provide evidence that you are the account holder, such as a copy of your bank statement showing the account number, sort code and your name.

All payments you make into your savings account must be made from your nominated account.

We will make all withdrawals by electronic payment to your nominated account.

A Cash ISA should take two weeks:

• New ISA manager five business days to forward a Transfer Authority Form to old ISA manager
• Old ISA manager five business days to send the Transfer History Form and the funds to the new ISA manager
• New ISA manager three business days to apply the funds to the chosen ISA

Allowing two days for 1^st class post, this equates to a total of 15 business days.

We will write to you about a month before your bond matures to ask for your instructions, at which time you can tell us to return your funds to you at maturity, reinvest them in a new bond or a combination of the two. If you do not give us an instruction before your bond matures we will open an easy access account for you and transfer your funds into it.

You can give us your instruction by calling 020 7862 6222 or by sending an instruction form in the post.

If you change your mind about opening the Cash ISA, you have the right to cancel it within 14 days of it being opened. Just tell us that you wish to cancel by calling or writing to Customer Services.

If you wish to transfer your Cash ISA with us to another ISA provider then you should request this through your new ISA provider, making a separate request for each Cash ISA you have with us and that you wish to transfer. You should not withdraw the funds from your Cash ISA and then pay them to your new ISA as those funds will lose their ISA status.

Deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

You can open an account by finding the one you are interested in on our website and clicking ‘open an account’. This will give you the option to apply online.

You need to be aged 18 or over and a resident in the United Kingdom to open a savings account with us. You can open a joint account with one other person.

We are required by law to verify your address and identity and we will try to do this by checking various electronic databases. If we are unable to verify you in this way we may ask you to provide some documents to help us complete our checks. Read what verification documents we may require.

If we ask you to send documents to us we will still open your account and you will be able to pay money into it. However, you will not be able to withdraw money until we receive the documents we require. If you do not send us the documents within 30 days we will close your account and return any money deposited to you.

If you apply online we will open your account and provide confirmation as soon as you submit your application. We will also tell you if we need any further information from you.

We will write to you confirming your new account details and any further information we require.

You can pay money into your account by sending an electronic payment (Faster Payment or CHAPS) to your Hampshire Trust Bank sort code and account number, which we will tell you once we have opened your account. If you open your account online we will provide your sort code and account number at the end of the application. However you apply, we will write to you to confirm your sort code and account number as soon as we have opened your account.

You can also pay money into your account by cheque. We will usually bank your cheque on the working day that we receive it. You should make the cheque payable to yourself and send it to us at our freepost address: Freepost RTXE-RYYB-AYZY, Hampshire Trust Bank, Savings, PO Box 74003, London EC2P 2QR.

If you are opening a notice account you can send as many payments as often as you like.

If you are opening a bond you can send as many payments as you like up to the cut-off date quoted on your welcome letter.

We will only accept payments into your account made from your Nominated Account.

You can make a payment into your account by cheque, we will usually bank your cheque on the working day that we receive it. You will start to earn interest on the second working day after it is deposited. (Full information is in our T&C’s).

Or you make a payment into your account by electronic payment and we will apply it to your account on the day we receive it. If we receive it after 1pm, we will apply it your account on the next working day. You will earn interest from the date it is applied.

A new security measure has been introduced by the big clearing banks, but at the moment it does not check accounts held outside the big banks, and that is why you are seeing the warning message. It is nothing to worry about and you have done the right thing by checking with us.  To offer some comfort you can visit the Financial Services register where they can check we are a bona fide bank.  You can also visit the Faster Payments sort code checker to confirm that the sort code we have given them is registered with Hampshire Trust Bank.

Yes, you can cancel any account with us within the first 14 days after the opening date. This is the date on your account opening confirmation letter. You can do this by calling us on 020 7862 6222 during business hours.

If you have already paid money into your account we will return this to you, along with any interest you have earned, when you tell us you would like to cancel it.

To open an additional account simply call us on 020 7862 6222 during business hours and we will do this for you over the phone.

No if you don’t fund your account within 14 days it will automatically close.

If you send us money by cheque you will start to earn interest on the second working day after we receive it.

If we receive your electronic payment before 1pm on a working day you will start earning interest the same day. Should we receive your electronic payment after 1pm on a working day or on a non-working day you will start earning interest the next working day.

Our sort code is 23 62 47.

Yes you can make payments into your account by cheque.

Please make the cheque payable to yourself.

When you apply we will ask you to give us a nominated account, which must be a current account you hold with a UK bank. If you are applying for a joint account your nominated account can be in both or either of your names.

We will check the nominated account details you give us and occasionally we may need you to provide evidence that you are the account holder, such as a copy of your bank statement showing the account number, sort code and your name.

All payments you make into your savings account must be made from your nominated account. If we receive an electronic payment from a different account we will return it to the paying account. If we receive a cheque from a different account we will return it to you uncashed.

We will make all withdrawals by electronic payment to your nominated account.

Most deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Read more information on our FSCS page.

Yes, the same compensation limits are applied if you’ve used an aggregator as for other bank accounts.  Savings marketplace, cash platform, savings service – this new type of financial company (also known as a deposits aggregator) spreads your money across multiple accounts with different banks. If an aggregator deposited your money with a regulated bank, your eligible deposits are protected up to a total of £85,000 per authorised entity.  The FSCS will check and pay these claims as soon as possible, and always within three months.

For any further information please visit the FAQs section at the top of the FSCS web page. https://www.fscs.org.uk/

If you applied for your account online you can log in to your online account. You will need your user ID, password and your memorable word.

If you opened your account online you can operate your account online or telephone. If you opened your account by post you can operate it by post and by telephone.

Your User ID can be found on the email we sent you when you first opened your account.

If you have an online account you will see the balance for each account you hold with us and your total balance when you log in to your account.

If you do not have an online account we can tell you your balance over the phone.

We will send you an annual statement by post on the anniversary of account opening.

We will provide you with a statement of your account, in each month there are transactions on your account. We may provide this to you in an electronic format or in the form of a paper statement – the Key Features Document will specify which.

If you have an online account you will see the interest rate for each account you hold us when you log in to your account.

If you do not have an online account we can tell you your interest rate over the phone.

Your current interest rate, and any changes during the year, will also be shown on your annual statement, which we will send to you by post.

If you have an online account you can give notice to withdraw money by logging in, selecting your notice account by clicking its account number and choosing ‘withdraw funds’.

Alternatively, you can give us an instruction by calling 020 7862 6222 during business hours.

You can make a partial withdrawal or ask us to close your account and return all of your money.

We cannot accept instructions by email.

You cannot withdraw money from your bond before the end of the term.

We will write to you about a month before your bond matures to ask for your instructions, at which time you can tell us to return your funds to you at maturity, reinvest them in a new bond or a combination of the two. If you do not give us an instruction before your bond matures we will open an easy access account for you and transfer your funds into it.

You can give us your instruction by calling 020 7862 6222 or by logging in to your online account.

If you have a sole account and wish to add a second account holder you will need to write to us, giving the full name, address and date of birth of the new account holder. We will need to carry out some checks on the new account holder and may ask them to provide some documentation to verify their identity.

If you hold a joint account and you both wish to remove one of you from the account you need to write to us asking us to do this. The letter needs to be signed by both of you.

If you cannot remember your password you can choose a new one by clicking the ‘Forgotten password’ link on the online log in page. You will need to know your User ID, account number and memorable word.

If this is not successful call 020 7862 6222 during business hours.

Call us on 020 7862 6222 during business hours.

Call us on 020 7862 6222 during business hours.

To help to prevent unauthorised access to your online account it is critical that you do not share your password or memorable word with anyone and we advise you not to write it down.

If you know or suspect that someone knows your password and/or memorable word you should tell us immediately and we will suspend your online account to prevent unauthorised access. We may do this without giving you prior notice if we suspect someone knows your password or if we see any unusual activity on your account. If we do suspend your online account we will re-register you to allow you to continue to securely use your account.

Yes. To do this the primary account holder will need to log in to the account and select ‘register joint account holder’ from the menu. This will send an email to the second account holder telling them how to register to access the account.