Compare Bank of Ireland ISAs

Please be aware we are not currently able to offer any ISAs from Bank of Ireland.

Who are Bank of Ireland?

Bank of Ireland are one of the biggest Irish Banks and their history can be traced all the way back to 1783.

With an extensive history in providing banking services to retail and business customers, today they provide a range of savings and investment accounts, but do not currently offer an ISA account.

What is an ISA?

An ISA account is a type of savings account that is completely free from all forms of tax.

HMRC allows investors to save up to £20,000 per year tax-efficiently in ISAs, and your annual allowances refreshes each year so you can keep topping up.

The two main taxes that ISAs are immune from are:

Income tax

You usually pay income tax on the interest generated on your cash savings, and dividends earned through your stock investments.

Capital Gains Tax

Capital gains tax is usually paid on the profits of your investments when you come to sell them. If they’ve increased in value from when you originally purchased them, then you’ll be liable to pay tax on the difference.

But if you wrap your savings and investments in an ISA, you never have to worry about paying tax on your income or profits, even when you make withdrawals.

What are the different types of ISA?

There are two main types of ISA accounts available to investors: Stocks and Shares ISAs and Cash ISAs.

The main difference between the two is what they invest in.

Cash ISAs always keep your savings as cash, and you earn interest on your balance.

Stocks and Shares ISAs allow you to invest in a wide range of stocks and shares. The potential for returns is higher, but your investments can go down as well as up in value.

Cash ISA Features:

1. A Cash ISA is a tax-efficient savings account that offers fixed or variable interest rates on your cash balance.
2. They cannot go down in value as they don’t invest in stocks, so you always get back at least what you put in.
3. You can invest for a fixed term for better rates, or invest in an instant-access ISA that gives you the flexibility to withdraw.

Stocks and Shares ISA Features:

1. Stocks and Shares ISAs allow you to invest in shares, funds, investment trusts, ETFs, ready-made portfolios and many more investments.
2. You benefit from the growth of your investments as well as the dividends they pay out.
3. However, they also come at a higher risk as your investment can both fall and rise in value.
4. You are usually permitted to withdraw at any time.

Do ISA accounts cost money?

Cash ISA Charges

• Cash ISAs do not usually charge any initial or ongoing fees.
• However, if you have a fixed interest rate Cash ISA you could be charged for withdrawing or transferring before the end of your fixed term, or you will at least have a portion of your interest deducted.

Stocks and Shares ISA Charges

• Stocks and Shares ISA providers take an annual management charge from your portfolio as either a regular fixed fee, or as a percentage of your ISA’s total value.
• Stocks and Shares ISA providers also charge dealing fees for buying and selling certain stocks, and can also charge other fees for actions like closing your account or transferring out to another ISA.

How do I open an ISA?

You can open most Cash ISAs online, and this is the easiest method to open an ISA account.

You’ll just need some basic personal information, your NI number and some other details to create your account, and you can start investing by making a debit card contribution.

Alternatively, you can also contribute regularly with a direct debit each month, or invest via cheque.

Who can open an ISA?

To open an ISA account, you must be:

• Age 16 or over for a Cash ISA account
• Age 18 or over for a Stocks and Shares ISA account
• A resident in the UK

Can I transfer from one ISA to another?

Yes, you can. A popular way of opening a new ISA is to transfer your existing old ISAs into a new account.

This is because you can transfer ISAs without it affecting your £20,000 ISA allowance.

For example, you could transfer an ISA worth £50,000 to a new provider and still add £20,000 of new money to that same ISA in the same tax year.

However, it’s not as simple as just withdrawing your existing ISA and then adding the money to your new one – if you do this, your money will lose its ISA status.

Instead, you need to make sure you complete an ISA transfer form with your new provider, and they will then carry out the transfer for you.