RateSetter sees over 5,000 IFISA accounts opened in first month

RATESETTER has revealed that over 5,000 Innovative Finance ISA (IFISA) accounts were opened in the first month since the product’s launch.

This equates to a quarter of total IFISA accounts opened across the whole industry in the last tax year, according to HMRC data, which demonstrates the impact that the ‘big three’ lenders can have on the IFISA market.

RateSetter launched its tax wrapper on 8 February purely to existing customers. On 1 March it launched the IFISA to new investors and has been “very pleased” with the level of take-up so far, a company spokesperson told Peer2Peer Finance News.

RateSetter is planning to open up to inward transfers from other ISAs in April.

The IFISA got off to a slow start, as most of the largest platforms were not authorised in time to offer the product when it launched in April 2016. The ‘big three’ lenders now all have their products on the market, raising expectations of an IFISA boom in this tax year.

Read more: P2P platforms pile in to the IFISA market

RateSetter’s IFISA offers annual returns ranging between three and six per cent, depending on the level of access. It is a flexible ISA, meaning that investors can withdraw and replace money within the same tax year without losing their tax-free allowance.