easyMoney Innovative Finance ISA review

easyMoney is the financial services arm of easyJet. It launched in 2018. Its first product is an Innovative Finance ISA, and it’s actually innovative in more ways than one.

In this guide, you’ll discover the main benefits of this tax-free peer-to-peer savings product and how it compares to others on the market.

easyMoney Innovative Finance ISA

• Shelter up to £20,000 and enjoy your returns tax-free
• Choose from a range of target returns based on deposit size
• Interest paid monthly, backed by UK property

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What is the easyMoney Innovative Finance ISA?

This product applies the same rules as other ISAs, as far as annual allowances and limits on deposits are concerned.

However, it attempts to stand out from its competitors by offering five different levels of ISA. The higher levels offer higher interest rates, but also have higher minimum deposits. When you invest at least £1,000, you’ll also be granted easyMoney Plus membership, which gives you the opportunity to unlock discounts with thousands of the lender’s retail partners.

Each ISA pays interest monthly, which you can choose to have paid into your bank account or automatically reinvested.

You can request to withdraw your investment whenever you wish, although instant access is not guaranteed.

How it works

As with any Innovative Finance ISA, the money you invest will be borrowed directly by customers looking for a loan.

With easyMoney, these borrowers are UK property investors taking loans with terms between 3 and 24 months. Your loans are backed by the property being bought.

easyMoney’s financial experts will vet all borrowers and choose where your money is invested (except in the case of Professional Investor account).

Each of the five ISAs have a “target” interest rate. This rate cannot be guaranteed because (as with all peer-to-peer savings products) there’s a possibility of borrowers defaulting and their property portfolio losing value. This may lead to you losing some of your investment. With that said, it’s also possible for investors to achieve more than their target rate.

Unlike more established peer-to-peer lenders, easyMoney does not offer a provision fund to compensate savings customers in this event. All investments are backed by legal charges, although this does not guarantee a loan will be repaid in full.

easyMoney does not appear to have published figures revealing what percentage of savings customers achieved their target rate.

What accounts are available?

• Classic. Invest £100 or more to be eligible for this account.
• Premium. Invest £10,000 or more to be eligible for this account and unlock a higher target rate.
• Premium Plus. Invest £20,000 or more to be eligible for this account and unlock a higher target rate.
• High Net Worth. Invest £100,000 or more to be eligible for this account and unlock a higher target rate.
• Professional Investor. Invest £1 million or more to be eligible for this account. With this account, you’ll choose your own borrowers.

If you make deposits to your account that make you eligible for a higher level of ISA, you’ll be upgraded automatically, except in the case of a Professional Investor account.

Pros and cons

Our verdict

easyMoney has made an eye-catching introduction with this product. With five levels of ISA to choose from and a cashback scheme to boot, this product is likely to attract investors.

The one question mark might surround the safety of your investment, as easyMoney has not yet published official figures revealing how many investors achieve their target rate.