Post Office Easy Access Cash ISA

2.0 ★★

Such a rigmarole to get a transfer out of an isa

Trying to get a small transfer from a post office isa to my current account. They said they couldn’t verify my current account so I sent off the requested paperwork to verify it and was told it would take 2 or 3 days once they received it. Two weeks later, was told by another customer service person it could take 3 weeks because April is always busy with the end of the tax year. After 3 weeks rang to be told by a very helpful lady – Zoe – that it could take 4 weeks. This seems like such an antiquated process. I’ve had the same high street bank account for 53 years, how it can take 4 weeks and the necessity of sending off paper copies of bank statements to verify that it’s legit is astonishing – and although I can see that April is busy because of the end of the tax year, surely they know that April comes round with absolute certainty every year and could plan their staffing accordingly. When I was clearly exasperated by this Zoe told me that she could sort it out that day via a secure email link, which she did and my account was verified within 10 minutes. She was extremely helpful. What I then found was that it would take 4 days to receive this very modest amount of money into my current account. 4 days! I could have drawn the money in cash and walked it round to my bank in 10 minutes. Usual justification about guarding against money laundering but they’re transferring it from an account that they’ve held for me for a year to an account that they’ve spent 4 weeks verifying, hard to see how money laundering could have been involved. It’s also really hard to avoid the thought that it’s so they can keep the cash in their own account earning interest for a couple of days and once my small sum of money is multiplied up by thousands of customers, I can see that it becomes a decent income stream.

1.0 ★

Poor online banking experience

Even although the interest rates look attractive on a comparison site, I cannot recommend Post Office Savings or ISA products. They are administered by Bank of Ireland and in terms of the online experience it is like going back in time by 20 years. Also they are not signed up to UK FasterPayments service so when you want to withdraw money it will take one BUSINESS DAY. e.g, withdraw at 17:01 on Friday and you’ll not see your money until Tuesday. Only use if you enjoy retro old school style banking!

1.0 ★

Rubbish customer service

As with many other reviewers, if 0* was an option, I would have chosen it! My wife opened a Post Office Fixed Rate ISA in April 2024. Towards the end of the fixed rate period, they sent her a message laying out her options. She decided to transfer it out and went through all the processes to sort it out. In May, her new provider sent a message saying Post Office had declined the transfer. SHE RECEIVED NOTHING AT ALL FROM THE POST OFFICE! She resolved the issue that had been causing the problem and applied for another transfer. In June, two months after starting the whole process she received a letter from the new provider saying the Post Office has declined again, their excuse this time is “the account does not allow transfers”! This is a load of rubbish, it is quite clear in the conditions of the account that, at the end of the fixed term, you can transfer this product out. She has sent another message to Post Office, but they will take at least a week to respond, their customer service is absolutely appalling!