Chip Smart Cash ISA: rate, flexibility and how it works

What rate does the Chip Smart Cash ISA pay?

Short answer: 4.68% AER (variable tracker) for new customers for 12 months, then 3.50% AER.

Chip puts it this way: “New customers can earn 4.68% AER (variable tracker) for 12 months. Then the standard rate of 3.50% AER”. The headline is made up of the standard rate plus a 1.18% AER new-customer boost. That boost is the largest on any Chip savings account, which is why the ISA leads Chip’s rate table, but it is also the biggest drop when the year is up.

The standard rate is a tracker. Chip says it “tracks 0.30% under the Bank of England base rate”, which is currently 3.75%. When Bank Rate changes, the standard rate follows. Our Chip interest rates page tracks every Chip account and logs each change with its date.

To put numbers on it: if you used your whole £20,000 allowance on day one and left it there, the boosted rate would earn roughly £936 in year one, falling to roughly £700 a year at the standard rate, assuming Bank Rate stays where it is. Those are simple estimates, not a forecast, and most people pay in over time rather than all at once.

Rates are variable. New-customer boosts last 12 months, then the standard rate applies.

Is the Chip Smart Cash ISA flexible?

Short answer: yes. You can take money out and put it back in the same tax year without it counting twice against your allowance.

In Chip’s words: “You can withdraw money and redeposit it within the same tax year without affecting your annual £20,000 allowance, subject to ISA rules.”. That matters more than it sounds. With a standard, non-flexible ISA, every pound you pay in uses up allowance, even if you are only replacing money you took out last month. Pay in your full allowance, withdraw some for an emergency, and you cannot put it back until 6 April.

With a flexible ISA like this one, the withdrawal effectively hands that allowance back, as long as you replace the money before the tax year ends on 5 April. Put it back on 6 April or later and it counts as a fresh subscription for the new year instead. Our guide to how a flexible ISA works goes through the same-tax-year rule with examples.

Withdrawals are unlimited and there is no penalty for making them, which sets the Smart Cash ISA apart from Chip’s Easy Access Saver and from several rival Cash ISAs that cut your rate after a few withdrawals. For how quickly money arrives and what can slow it down, see our page on Chip withdrawals.

How much can you pay in?

Short answer: up to £20,000 this tax year (2026/27), across all your ISAs combined.

The £20,000 allowance is shared between every ISA you pay into in the same tax year: Cash ISAs, Stocks and Shares ISAs, Lifetime ISAs and Innovative Finance ISAs. You can split it between providers, so you could pay part into Chip and part elsewhere. Money you already hold in ISAs from earlier years does not count against this year’s allowance, and transfers of earlier years’ ISA money do not use it up either.

Interest earned inside the ISA is tax-free and does not count towards your Personal Savings Allowance. That allowance, which GOV.UK sets at £1,000 of interest a year for basic-rate and £500 for higher-rate taxpayers, covers savings outside an ISA. If your non-ISA interest is near that limit, the ISA wrapper is worth more than the rate difference alone. The Cash ISA allowance guide covers the rules in more depth.

Who holds the money, and is it FSCS protected?

Short answer: Chip Financial Wealth Ltd manages the ISA, and the cash sits with a panel of UK banks including Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC. Eligible deposits are FSCS protected up to £120,000 per person at each bank.

This is different from Chip’s other savings accounts. Instant Access, Easy Access and Prize Savings are all held with ClearBank, so they share a single £120,000 FSCS limit. The Smart Cash ISA spreads money across several banks, and the FSCS limit applies separately at each of them.

One catch to keep in mind: the limit at each bank covers everything you hold with that bank, not only the part that arrived through Chip. If you already have a large balance directly with one of the panel banks, the two are added together. Chip itself is not a bank; Chip is an app, not a bank: your savings are held with partner banks. Chip Financial Wealth Ltd is authorised by the FCA (FRN 1005114).

For the full picture of how the FSCS works with apps that place your money at partner banks, read our guide to FSCS protection with savings apps.

Can you transfer ISAs in and out?

Short answer: transferring out is possible but forfeits any unpaid interest. Chip’s published pages do not set out transfer-in terms clearly enough for us to state them, so check the app.

Transferring in. We have not been able to confirm from Chip’s Smart Cash ISA page whether transfers in from other providers are accepted, or whether they get the boosted rate. Rather than guess, we would rather tell you to check the app before you start. Whatever you do, follow the GOV.UK rule: always ask the new provider to arrange the transfer. If you withdraw the money yourself and pay it in again, it is treated as a new subscription, uses up this year’s allowance and can lose the tax-free status of earlier years’ savings.

Transferring out. Chip says that transferring out or closing forfeits any unpaid interest. Interest builds up between payment dates, so leaving just before a payment means losing whatever has built up since the last one. If you are planning a move, check in the app when your next interest payment is due and request the transfer just after it lands. Then ask your new provider to start the transfer, as above.

What about the older Chip Cash ISA?

Short answer: the older Chip Cash ISA is closed to new customers. Anyone opening a Chip ISA today gets the Smart Cash ISA.

Chip ran an earlier Cash ISA before the Smart Cash ISA launched. If you already hold it, it is not affected by this page: your rate, the banks it uses and its terms are whatever Chip shows in your app for that account, and they may differ from the Smart Cash ISA’s. If you are weighing up a move from one to the other, compare the two rates in the app and check how any switch would be handled, so the money stays inside the ISA wrapper.

From my account

Does the Smart Cash ISA count for the £50 referral bonus?

Short answer: yes. It is one of Chip’s eligible accounts, alongside Instant Access and Prize Savings.

If you are new to Chip and join through a referral link or code, you can get £50 by depositing £1,000 or more into the Smart Cash ISA, the Instant Access Account or the Prize Savings Account and keeping at least £1,000 there for 90 days in a row. You can split the money between eligible accounts. If your balance falls below £1,000 at any point, the countdown starts again from zero, and everything has to be done within 120 days of being referred.

Three points that catch people out. The bonus is only for people who have never held a Chip account before. The Easy Access Saver does not count, even though it pays more than Instant Access. And the £50 is paid into your Chip Instant Access Account (or Prize Savings Account if you do not have one), not into the ISA, so it does not use any of your ISA allowance. The bonus is paid at Chip's discretion. Full details are on our Chip referral code page.

Because the ISA is flexible, it is a comfortable place for the qualifying £1,000: you can still get at the money if you need it. Just remember that a withdrawal which takes your eligible balance below £1,000 resets the 90 days.

How does it compare with Trading 212, Plum and Moneybox?

Short answer: Chip’s headline is competitive and its standard rate holds up better than some rivals’, but Trading 212 pays a flat rate with no boost to lose, and each rival has different conditions.

Trading 212 quotes 3.6% AER variable, flexible on its Cash ISA terms. There is no boost, so there is no drop after a year, and it is flexible too. In year one Chip pays more; after the boost, compare the two standard rates on the day. Our Chip vs Trading 212 comparison goes through the differences, including how each one holds your money.

Plum advertises 4.73% AER variable for 12 months, then 2.54% on its Cash ISA page. The headline is slightly higher than Chip’s, but it includes a bonus that depends on keeping the money for 12 months and meeting other conditions, and the rate after the bonus is lower than Chip’s standard rate. See Chip vs Plum for the full picture.

Moneybox shows 4.72% AER variable for 12 months, then 3.45% on its Cash ISA page, with a minimum balance and a lower rate if you make four or more withdrawals in a year. If you rarely touch your ISA, that may not matter; if you dip in and out, Chip’s unlimited withdrawals are the simpler deal.

Every rate above is variable and changes often. Our best Cash ISA apps roundup keeps them side by side with checked dates.

Who is the Chip Smart Cash ISA for?

Short answer: savers who want a high first-year rate, tax-free interest and the freedom to withdraw, and who are new to Chip so the referral bonus is on the table too.

It suits you if you pay income tax on savings interest or are close to your Personal Savings Allowance, you want to keep access to the money, and you are happy to review the rate once the boost ends. It is less suited to anyone who wants a fixed rate for a set term, or who would rather not use an app to manage an ISA. If that is you, a fixed-term Cash ISA from a bank is likely to suit you better.

Chip also offers a Stocks and Shares ISA, a General Investment Account and a pension, and its Wealth Tiers add +0.20% AER on the Smart Cash ISA once you hold £10,000 in eligible Chip investments. With investments, your capital is at risk. This page covers the Cash ISA only.