Chip vs Trading 212 Cash ISA: which pays more?

The quick verdict

Pick Chip if you want the higher rate now. The Smart Cash ISA pays 4.68% AER for 12 months, then 3.50% AER, it counts towards the £50 referral bonus, and Chip also has instant access savings and autosave in the same app.

Pick Trading 212 if you want one rate with no boost to expire, and you would rather not move your ISA after a year. Its Cash ISA pays 3.6% AER variable and charges no fees. It makes most sense if you already use the Trading 212 app.

Trading 212 is best known as an investing platform. This page compares only its Cash ISA and the interest it pays on cash, not its investment products. With investments, your capital is at risk.

Side by side

Chip figures come from Chip’s Smart Cash ISA, account and pricing pages. Trading 212 figures come from its Cash ISA terms, interest on cash page and money protection page, checked on 16 October 2026.

Rates are variable. New-customer boosts last 12 months, then the standard rate applies. Eligibility criteria apply. The £50 is for people who have never held a Chip account, who deposit £1,000 into an eligible account and keep at least £1,000 there for 90 days in a row.

Cash ISA rates: a boost against a flat rate

Chip pays more for the first 12 months; Trading 212 pays the same rate from day one. Chip’s Smart Cash ISA pays 4.68% AER for 12 months, then 3.50% AER. The headline is made up of the standard rate plus a 1.18% AER new-customer boost. The standard rate is a variable tracker below the Bank of England’s Bank Rate, currently 3.75%.

Trading 212’s Cash ISA terms give 3.6% AER variable, flexible. Interest is earned daily. There is no introductory bonus, so the rate does not step down after a year, though Trading 212 can change it at any time like any variable rate.

That gives a simple pattern. In year one, Chip’s 4.68% is higher than Trading 212’s 3.6%. From year two, Chip’s 3.50% AER is lower than Trading 212’s 3.6%. The gap after the boost is 0.10%, which is small; the gap during the boost is 1.08%.

Our guide to introductory bonus rates explains how to plan for the end of a boost, and the Chip Smart Cash ISA page covers the account in full.

3.6% or 3.8%? Comparing the right Trading 212 rate

The Trading 212 Cash ISA rate is 3.6%. The 3.8% you may have seen is a different product. Trading 212’s interest on cash page advertises 3.8% AER variable on uninvested GBP cash. That is interest on cash sitting uninvested in its other accounts, not a savings account and not the Cash ISA.

It is easy to mix the two up, because both figures appear on Trading 212’s site and in many comparison tables. If you are choosing a tax-free Cash ISA, the like-for-like comparison is 3.6% at Trading 212 against Chip’s 4.68% AER for 12 months, then 3.50% AER.

The higher cash rate also comes with a caveat on protection, covered below: with interest switched on, Trading 212 places part of that cash in money market funds rather than banks.

Over two years

Simple illustration: today’s variable rates held for two years and a steady £10,000 balance, with interest not added back in. Real rates will move with Bank Rate.

On these figures Chip is £98 ahead after two years. Trading 212 claws back about £10 a year after that, so at today’s rates it would take about 11 years of Chip’s standard rate for Trading 212 to make up Chip’s first-year lead. Add the £50 referral bonus if you qualify for it, and Chip’s lead is bigger. Our savings interest calculator lets you try your own balance.

Interest inside either Cash ISA is tax-free. Outside an ISA, interest counts towards your Personal Savings Allowance, which GOV.UK sets at £1,000 for basic-rate and £500 for higher-rate taxpayers; see our guide to the Cash ISA allowance for how the two fit together.

Withdrawals and flexibility

Both ISAs are flexible with no withdrawal limits. Chip’s Smart Cash ISA has unlimited withdrawals; flexible, so you can put money back in the same tax year. Trading 212 says its Cash ISA has no withdrawal restrictions or penalties (£1 minimum deposit and withdrawal; no deposit or withdrawal fees), and its ISA page confirms you can withdraw and replace within the same tax year.

One Chip detail matters if you plan to move your ISA later: transferring out or closing forfeits any unpaid interest. Time a transfer for just after interest is paid. Our flexible ISA guide explains replacing withdrawals in the same tax year.

Protection: the money market fund caveat

Chip’s savings are bank deposits. Trading 212’s interest-earning cash can be split between banks and money market funds. That is the most important difference on this page after the rate.

Chip’s Smart Cash ISA is held with a panel of UK banks including Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC. For the other accounts: Chip savings are held with ClearBank and eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person, shared across all your money at ClearBank.

Trading 212’s money protection page says cash is held with banks including Barclays, NatWest and J.P. Morgan Chase, and that with interest switched on some is held in qualifying money market funds, with the split shown in the app. Its interest page says money in a money market fund is treated as an investment, not a bank deposit, and does not get deposit protection. Cash held with its banks is covered up to £120,000 per bank.

Money market funds are investments, not deposits, so their value is not protected in the same way as money in a bank. We have not been able to confirm from Trading 212’s pages exactly how Cash ISA money is split, so check the app before you deposit. Our guide to FSCS protection with savings apps explains the difference.

Costs

Both ISAs are free to hold. Trading 212 says it is free, no monthly subscription, and there are no deposit or withdrawal fees on its Cash ISA. Chip’s Basic plan is free. Chip’s only cost for a saver is autosave, at 45p per autosave on Basic, and recurring deposits are free on both plans. ChipX, at £5.99 every 28 days or £65.05 a year, is optional; see is ChipX worth it?

Autosave and round-ups

Chip has automatic saving; Trading 212 has none that we found. Chip’s autosave studies your connected current account and moves small amounts into savings. It costs 45p per autosave on the free plan, and you can turn it down or off. We found no round-up saving feature on Trading 212’s card or interest pages, so saving into its Cash ISA is a manual job or a regular deposit.

Sign-up offers

Chip’s referral bonus covers the Smart Cash ISA; Trading 212 has no cash savings bonus in our data. At Chip, you and the person who referred you each get £50 when you deposit £1,000 or more into the Smart Cash ISA, the Instant Access Account or the Prize Savings Account and keep at least £1,000 there for 90 days in a row. Note that if your balance drops below £1,000 at any point, the 90-day countdown starts again from zero. The Easy Access Saver does not count, you must have never held a Chip account before, and the bonus is paid at Chip's discretion.

Moving an existing ISA to Chip’s Smart Cash ISA by transfer does not use up your allowance. Whether a transfer counts towards the £1,000 for the bonus is a question to check with Chip before you rely on it.

Trading 212’s invite-a-friend terms describe a campaign that does not apply to cash savings, so there is nothing to compare for a Cash ISA. We have no Trading 212 referral link.

Where Trading 212 wins

We earn from Chip referrals, so it is fair to say clearly where Trading 212 is the better choice:

• A rate that does not step down. No 12-month boost means no drop at the anniversary, and on today’s figures 3.6% is higher than Chip’s standard 3.50% AER.
• Set and forget. If you will not move your ISA after a year, a flat rate can be simpler than chasing boosts.
• No fees at all. Nothing to pay for saving, and no per-save charge to keep an eye on.
• One app. If you already use Trading 212, a Cash ISA there means one fewer login.
• You have had Chip before. Without the referral bonus, the year-one maths is closer. See Chip alternatives.

Who should choose which

For more Cash ISAs side by side, see our best Cash ISA apps comparison.