# 3.75% Cash ISA Follow the base rate. Flexible access to the Bank of England’s base rate, tax-free. No surprises or asterisks attached. Money is held in UK banks and qualified money market funds.
Our rate is presented as the Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) and is variable. Capital at risk. Regulated by the FCA Flexible access to the Bank of England’s base rate, tax-free. No surprises or asterisks attached. ## Follow the Bank of England’s rate The Bank of England rate is shown as Annual Percentage Rate (APR), which doesn’t include monthly compounding.
Our Cash ISA rate is presented as the Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) which does take into account monthly compounding. ### Today Base rate: 3.75% Bank of England Our rate:
that Lightyear Cash ISA ### If it goes down Base rate: 3.5% Bank of England Our rate:
still that Lightyear Cash ISA ### If it goes up Base rate: 4% Bank of England Our rate:
it's that Lightyear Cash ISA ## No asterisks* * You won’t find any surprises here. No account fees, withdrawal penalties or limited time bonus rates. ### Cash ISA - No withdrawal penalties: We don’t lower rates if you make a withdrawal and our ISAs are all [Flexible](/blog/just-how-flexible-are-flexible-isas) — making withdrawals painless. - No bait-and-switch: We don’t believe in short term “bonus rates” that expire after a few months, giving you less over the long term. - No minimums: Start with £1 not £1,000. You won't find any high barriers to entry here. Getting started has never been easier. ## The no suprisa. No gimmicks, no more surprises. Just 3.75% on your savings. - Interest rate: AER (variable) - Interest paid monthly - Flexible ISA - Minimum deposit - Limited time bonus rate - Bonus rate interest paid - Penalty-free withdrawals - Interest rate after penalty-free withdrawals Based on a balance of £10,000. Rates accurate as of 12th June 2026. - [Barclays Instant Cash ISA](https://www.barclays.co.uk/savings/isas/instant-cash-isa/) offer 1.00% AER (variable) on balances of £1 or more. - [Moneybox Open Access Cash ISA](https://www.moneyboxapp.com/open-access-cash-isa) offers an introductory rate of 4.00% AER, which includes a bonus rate of 0.75% AER (variable) for the first 12 months. The interest rate drops to 3.25% AER (variable) after the introductory 12 month period. ## Why transfer to Lightyear? It’s all done for you and doesn’t leave you out of pocket. ### ISA Transfers - We'll handle it for you: Our team will work with your current provider to transfer your ISA. - Free to transfer: Moving your ISA to us is free. Your current provider may charge exit fees. - ISA allowance unaffected: Transferring an ISA does not affect your £20k annual allowance. ## Protection and regulation Trusting us with your investments is something we don’t take for granted. ### Regulated and insured - Regulated by the FCA: We're authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority ([FRN 987226](https://register.fca.org.uk/s/firm?id=0014G000034WTPOQA4)). - FSCS protection: Lightyear is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). FSCS deposit protection applies to client money only where held with UK banks, not where held in QMMFs. [Learn more here](/help/deposits-conversions-and-withdrawals/how-are-my-assets-protected). ### Safeguarding your assets - We safeguard your cash: Customer funds are held in a mix of Citibank and NatWest bank deposits and AAA-rated Qualifying Money Market Funds. Your money is always kept separate from ours. FSCS protection applies to client money only where held with banks, not where held in QMMFs. [Learn more here](/help/deposits-conversions-and-withdrawals/how-are-my-assets-protected). - Your assets are yours, no one else's: You are the beneficial owner of all your investments, and your assets are held in separate accounts. Your assets can't be touched by our creditors and in the unlikely event of Lightyear's insolvency, everything is returned to you. ## Questions a curious saver might ask ### How do you keep my money safe? Trusting us with your money is not something we take for granted. Lightyear UK Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and as such is bound by strict regulatory obligations in how we handle and protect your money. Customer money always sits separately to our own and is held in Natwest and Qualifying Money Market Funds. There’s no way for creditors - in the unlikely event of anything happening to Lightyear - to get hold of the investments or cash that you hold with us. Lightyear is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Any shortfall in cash and assets returned to you may be claimable with the FSCS, in the event of Lightyear's insolvency. FSCS does not cover losses due to poor investment performance. FSCS protection applies to client money only where held with Banks, not where held in QMMFs. Read more about [how your assets are protected](/help/deposits-conversions-and-withdrawals/how-are-my-assets-protected) in our Help Centre, or review our [Cash ISA Key Features Document](https://lightyear.com/assets/document/20260127_ISA_CASH_KEY_INFORMATION_DOCUMENT_EN.pdf). ### What do I need to know before I invest? **Do you have cash reserves?:** It’s generally good practice to have easily accessible cash available to cover your ongoing short term expenses, as well as an emergency fund for any unforeseen sudden expenses (e.g. needing to replace your washing machine), before investing extra money you might have. It may also be sensible to pay off debts with available money, rather than investing it. **Can you accept losses?:** All investing contains an element of risk; your investment value can go down as well as up, so you could get back less than you invested, or in some cases, you may lose your entire investment. Generally the more risk you take gives you the opportunity for higher returns, but also increases the potential for greater losses. You should also think about how long you plan to invest for, and therefore whether you have the time to wait for any losses to recover. Don’t invest more than you can afford to lose. [See explanations](https://lightyear.com/en-gb/risk-disclosures) of the types of risk each investment type provided by Lightyear might be exposed to here. This can be complicated, so please let us know if you need help. Free, impartial guidance covering cash reserves, losses and more, is available at [MoneyHelper](https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk) & [InvestSmart (FCA)](https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart) including: [A beginners guide to investing](https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/savings/investing/investing-beginners-guide), [5 questions to ask before you invest](https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/5-questions-ask-you-invest), [Make sure you understand the risks](https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk/en/savings/investing/thinking-about-investing-make-sure-you-understand-the-risks), [Is it the right investment for you](https://www.fca.org.uk/investsmart/right-investment-you). ### Is Lightyear a bank? Lightyear is not a bank. We’re an investment platform, so there are a couple of key differences. While we’re regulated by the same authorities as banks, the protection schemes are slightly different for investment platforms [(see here)](/help/deposits-conversions-and-withdrawals/how-are-my-assets-protected). With regards to customer funds, we cannot use customer money in the same way a bank does by lending it out. You have instant access to your Lightyear assets because of this. ### Why are your fees so reasonable? How do you make enough money? We couldn’t agree more - our fees are very reasonable. We’re one of the most competitively priced investment platforms on the market and that's how we like it. Low cost, transparent pricing is in our DNA. We charge small, but fair, execution fees and take a fee for both foreign exchange and interest payments. Building a sustainable business that’s here to serve customers in 10, 20 and 100 years is something that’s paramount. ### How easy is it to withdraw my money? Easy. We ensure you always have access to your money and we've made the process pretty painless for when you need to withdraw. Once requested, withdrawals may take up to 2 business days to be sent out to your requested bank account. Once sent out, the money will typically land in your account in an hour or two. ### Do I need financial advice? Lightyear doesn't offer investment advice; i.e. we don't assess if our services or instruments are suitable for you. But we do provide info about what we offer – e.g. our Target Market Matrix which describes investor types based on their investment experience, financial objectives and how much risk they're comfortable with – to help you decide what investments might work best for you. You'll need to make sure your investment decisions meet your needs and amount of investment risk you're happy to take. If you don't feel you have the necessary knowledge and experience to make those decisions for yourself, you may want to get independent financial advice instead. --- Canonical: https://lightyear.com/en-gb/cash-isa