Why did it take almost a month for Plum to transfer £16,000 from my savings account to my bank account?
- Reader waited almost a month for £16,000 to be transferred from Plum Isa to bank account
- Cash Isa transfers must be completed within 15 days
- Have you experienced an Isa transfer delay? editor@thisismoney.co.uk
I have an easy access cash Isa with Plum. On 5th July I requested £16,000 to be transferred from the Isa to my bank.
And now, today, my bank, Santander, has been trying for weeks, but Plum is not responding to Santander’s requests for the transfer.
They also have a strange system of NI numbers instead of normal bank accounts which just causes extra confusion for no reason.
The clock is ticking: our reader requested a £16,000 transfer from a Plum Isa on 5 July, but almost a month later it still hadn’t arrived
I thought money from a cash Isa should be transferred within 15 days, but the 1* reviews on review sites suggest others are also struggling with Plum.
Why does the transfer take so long?
Helen Kirrane from This is Money responds: App-based Plum has one of the best Isa rates on the market, at 5.17 per cent. Many savers like you have flocked to it for this reason.
As you say, for Isa transfers it takes no longer than 15 working days for cash Isa transfers.
This is Money has asked Plum to investigate your case to see what went wrong and to explain in general how Isa transfers are processed.
In your case, Plum told me that the original transfer request had not yet been processed when it was first received on July 5th.
Plum assured me that your transfer to Santander has now been completed. Plum said that it is investigating why this happened and will take steps to ensure that this does not happen again.
This is Money also asked Plum whether it was being overwhelmed by demand for its best buy Isa.
James Blower, founder of Savings Guru said: We often see that new entrants don’t understand the volumes you get at the top end of the market, what the operational impact is and how to prepare for it.
Plum has been paying a very high rate for some time now.
The number of outgoing transfers will probably be low considering the rates they pay. I suspect they prioritize incoming transfers.
A Plum spokesperson said: We are delighted that our Cash Isa has been so popular and that we have been able to attract so many new customers to Plum, who are enjoying a positive experience including a market leading rate.
We would also like to emphasize that the vast majority of our customers are very satisfied with Plum, as evidenced by our high ratings in the App Store (4.7/5) and Play Store (4.6/5).
How long does an ISA transfer take?
James Blower AnswerS: All providers have 15 business days to complete a transfer. If they miss this deadline, they must report it.
A Plum spokesperson responded: The timeframe varies, but generally we aim to process cash Isa transfers within 15 days.
Helen Kirrane from This is Money responds: The 15 day timeline does not apply to transfers from a cash Isa to a stocks and shares, innovative finance or lifetime Isa, or vice versa. Given that yours was from a cash Isa to your bank, I see no reason why the transfer should have taken longer than 15 working days.
How do Plum Isa transfers take place?
A Plum spokesperson responded: The transfer process varies from provider to provider due to their different communication methods. However, we aim to make the process easy and deliver requests as quickly as possible. It is worth noting that some providers insist on sending transfer requests by post, which often slows down the process.
Because Plum is not a bank, payments must be routed through our e-money wallet and payment provider. We therefore use customers’ personal details and national insurance number to identify their account, which ensures that the money can be tracked at every stage of the process. Many other cash Isa providers operate in a similar way.
We can confirm that the transfer request for this customer has been processed by us and the funds are now with Santander.
In this unusual case, the original transfer request was not processed when it was first received on July 5. We are investigating why this happened and will take steps to ensure it does not happen again.
We would like to apologise to this customer as we aim to process all cash Isa transfers within 15 working days.
We want to reassure customers that this is not the norm for transfers from Plum. The vast majority of transfers from the Plum cash Isa are processed quickly and without any issues.
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