UK Money App News: July 2026

Four things worth knowing if you run your money through an app. The cash ISA rate war has moved to fixed rates, with new one-year deals now paying more than the top easy access accounts. Trading 212’s boosted ISA rate has a deadline this week. And the Bank of England’s next decision, due 30 July, looks likely to leave rates where they are.

Fixed cash ISAs push past 4.70% as savers race the allowance cut

Fixed-rate cash ISAs have climbed to the top of the tables. As of 1 July, Al Rayan Bank leads the one-year fixed chart with an expected profit rate of 4.70% AER, opened through the Meteor Savings platform, and OakNorth Bank’s one-year fixed cash ISA at 4.56% AER was named Moneyfacts Pick of the Week on 26 June. The pull for app savers is the timing: this is the last tax year an under-65 can shelter the full £20,000 in cash before the allowance drops to £12,000 from April 2027, so fixing now locks a rate and uses the allowance in one move. The trade-off is access, since a fixed ISA charges an interest penalty if you pull money out early. Our cash ISA vs savings calculator helps you weigh the tax-free fix against a flexible taxable account. Source: Moneyfacts weekly ISA roundup.

Trading 212’s boosted cash ISA rate has a 3 July deadline

Trading 212 is running a 4.63% AER easy access cash ISA for new money, a figure that includes a 1.03 percentage point bonus fixed for 12 months, but the boosted version is only available to savers who apply through Moneyfactscompare before 3 July 2026. After that the headline rate steps down. It is a decent home for cash you may need at short notice, with the usual bonus-rate warning attached: diarise the date the bonus falls away in a year, because the rate you open on is not the rate you keep. If you are choosing between an app ISA and a plain savings pot, our savings interest and tax calculator shows what each earns after tax. Source: Be Clever With Your Cash.

Plum and Chip ISA rates reward new customers over transfers

The cash ISA apps keep splitting their rates by how you join. Plum is advertising around 4.62% AER for new customers but roughly 4.00% AER if you transfer an existing ISA in, and both figures lean on a 12-month bonus that drops off afterwards, with Plum’s rate falling to about 2.54% once the introductory period ends. Chip sits close behind. The point for app users is to read past the headline: a transfer often earns less than a fresh deposit, and the rate a year from now is usually much lower than the one on the sign-up screen. Our Plum vs Chip comparison breaks down how each app handles bonuses and withdrawals. Source: Moneyfacts weekly ISA roundup.

Bank of England expected to hold at 3.75% on 30 July

Forecasters expect the Monetary Policy Committee to leave the base rate at 3.75% when it meets on 30 July, with services inflation still elevated and no strong case for a cut this summer. For app savers that means the variable easy access and ISA rates you see now are unlikely to fall sharply in the next few weeks, so there is no panic to act. It also strengthens the case for fixing part of your cash: if rates are going nowhere for a while, a one-year fix locks today’s level without betting on a rise that most economists do not expect until 2027. Source: HomeOwners Alliance interest rate forecast.