Investing platform IG has a brand new offer to help you March into spring. New UK customers can get a whopping 7% interest on idle cash when you join the platform using code INTEREST7 and make your first investment by 13 March. Read our “Need to knows” to find out the rest of the details.
After 6 months you would have about £5,172.04.
| Month | Amount |
|---|---|
| 1 | £5,028.27 |
| 2 | £5,056.70 |
| 3 | £5,085.29 |
| 4 | £5,114.05 |
| 5 | £5,142.96 |
| 6 | £5,172.04 |
Capital at risk.
The offer is available to anyone who opens a stocks and shares ISA, SIPP or general investment account (GIA). But as you’d expect with such a blockbuster rate, there are some conditions to be aware of:
Let’s go through those one-by-one.
The rate applies to new UK customers, who use code INTEREST7 to open a stocks and shares ISA, SIPP, or a GIA by 13 March. You can earn 7% interest on all uninvested cash within these accounts. Existing account holders could also be eligible if they haven’t made their first trade yet.
You need to act fast if you want to capitalise on the offer as you need to open an account and make an investment by 13 March (although the 7% rate then applies from the start of April until the end of September).
To earn your 7% boosted interest rate all the way until the end of September, you need to invest £500 by 31 March, and hold this amount or more until 30 September. If the value of your investments drops below £500 you will no longer be eligible for the boosted interest rate, meaning any interest earned on your cash balance will revert to the standard rate.
Provided you’ve made a trade, any other money held in cash will earn 7% AER interest between 1 April until 30 September (an investment position of at least £500 must be kept open during this time). The 7% bonus rate is the standard rate plus 3.25%, so from October, it reverts to IG’s standard rate – currently 3.75%.
There’s a cap, and it’s £5,000. So, assuming you deposited the maximum amount before 31 March, the most you could earn during the promotional period would be around £172.04. Interest is calculated on daily balances throughout the calendar month, and interest payments are made in the following month.
When you buy shares in a company, that value (not your uninvested funds) could go up or down, so you may get less (or more) than what you put in.
GO TO IG'S SITECapital at risk.
| Uninvested cash at beginning of April | Value at end of September (approx.) |
|---|---|
| £1,000 | £1,034.41 |
| £2,000 | £2,073.64 |
| £3,000 | £3,103.22 |
| £5,000 | £5,172.04 |
| £10,000 | £10,344.08 |
One of the reasons for IG offering this rate is to introduce more people to the world of investing (specifically with IG).
It’s a loss-leader for IG, and it’s certainly an attention grabbing rate – coming at a time when interest rates are trending downwards after a decent stint of being pretty high. In return for giving that boosted rate, IG gets a chance to educate savers about investing.
All in all, the interest rate offered by IG is great if you’re looking for short-term boosted interest rate on a balance of less than £10,000.
However, you need to make an investment to qualify, so you need to jump through some hoops and understand the risks of investing, IG isn’t a bank. You do need to make or have an open investment for the full period, so ensure you’re informed on what you want to invest in, as well as being aware of the potential fees attached.
It’s also important that you carefully look through IG's T&Cs yourself before opening an account and investing.
GO TO IG'S SITECapital at risk.
Free stock worth £10-£100 (deposit £50)
Get 1 free Rolls-Royce share
Get up to 3% cashback
Get up to £5,000 cashback (1%)
Get up to £100 in US fractional shares
Free currency conversion up to £10,000
Sign-up welcome bonus of £20-£100. (deposit £100)
Refer a friend and get up to £100 each
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