withplum.com

I have various cash ISA accounts that I regularly move about between providers in order to maximise

I have various cash ISA accounts that I regularly move about between providers in order to maximise return on interest and have undertaken numerous ISA transfers. Never have I had issue such as I have had with Plum. Now Plum DO NOT put your money in an account identifiable by a sort code and account number. They hold your money in a "virtual" account identifiable by your personal details and NI number. This is part of the problem. So after the expiry of a Plum ISA, I decided to transfer my ISA to a different provider with a better interest rate, Virgin Savings. So I completed the Virgin transfer form, including my NI number explaining that this is how Plum identify my ISA, this form was ultimately rejected by Plum as it did not include my account details!!!! I then entered into an online message chat with Plum, (no human telephone service available), and after several exchanges was told to put my NI number in the space on the Virgin transfer form that asks for my account number. Anyway, so much time had passed that another provider was offering a better interest rate than Virgin, Paragon Bank. So I opened an ISA with then and initiated an exchange which was to be completed within 15 days max. After 20 days and still no transfer I contacted Paragon who informed me that Plum had corresponded with them via an unverified email address and as such they would not deal with them until they used the approved registered financial email address. How unprofessional is that? So bottom line for me is do not deal with a bank that does not hold your money in an account identifiable by a sort code and account number and I will not be dealing with Plum again full stop. Obviously this is loosing me interest on my savings. Now about to submit complaint to FCA as clearly Plum are intent on holding onto my ISA as long as they can causing me much loss of interest.

Date of experience: Apr 13, 2026