ISAsJun 6 2017

Skipton is first to launch cash Lisa

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Skipton is first to launch cash Lisa

Skipton Building Society will be launching the UK’s first cash Lifetime Isa on Thursday (8 June).

It means Skipton will join the ranks of the few providers which offer the product at all.

Those providers which do offer it, including Hargreaves Lansdown, Nutmeg and the Share Centre, do so in a stocks and shares form.

Skipton’s Cash Lisa will earn an annual interest rate of 0.5 per cent and first-time buyers which use it to take out a mortgage with the building society will receive £250 cashback.

Kris Brewster, head of products at Skipton Building Society, said: “The Lifetime Cash Isa could make a real difference to a new generation of savers by assisting them in getting a foot on the property ladder.

“That is why we’re excited to offer a product that will encourage future homeowners to save towards this significant milestone.   

“As a building society, our purpose has always been to support people in planning and preparing for their life ahead.

“And being the first in the UK to give savers more choice with the Cash Lifetime Isa, this is another way of us continuing that commitment.”  

The new Isa lets individuals under the age of 40 save towards their first home or towards retirement.

Lisa users can receive a 25 per cent bonus from the government which can be claimed on contributions up to £4,000 a year.

Because of strong interest in the product, Skipton launched an online register for people to receive an update when the product launches.

It will be offering the product exclusively to those on this registration list today (6 June) and tomorrow (7 June).

Skipton's decision to offer a Lifetime Isa comes one month after a survey by CoreData showed 34 per cent of those planning to invest in the Lisa will cut the amount of money they put into their pension, while 7 per cent will stop saving into it altogether.

The findings prompted growing concerns that the Lisa could be the next mis-selling scandal on the horizon - as predicted by Ros Altmann, former pensions minister, last September.

She warned the Lifetime Isa isn’t even close to being as beneficial as a pension post retirement freedoms.

Baroness Altmann said: “In my view Lifetime Isas risk poorer pensioners in the future and it is a disaster in the making.

“This product has mis-selling written all over it. Just think about it from a customer’s perspective. The Lifetime Isa isn’t a simple product. It needs somebody to understand the whole environment."

damian.fantato@ft.com