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Cash interest explained |
You will receive interest on balances in your platform cash account at the prevailing rate.
Embark Investment Services Limited acts as the custodian for investments on the Willis Owen platform and is one of our strategic partners that provides our Willis Owen ISA, GIA, Junior ISA and SIPP.
Embark places cash with a number of banking partners for safekeeping and to provide the potential for you to earn interest on money in your platform cash account. By managing cash in this way, it aims to provide better protection and a higher overall level of interest than if all funds were placed with a single bank.
The rates of interest paid by banks will vary. Embark retains a portion of the interest earned to cover its costs in managing platform cash.
Current Interest Rate
The table below shows the current customer interest rate payable on cash balances along with the amount of interest retained by Embark. The customer interest rate shown is that after accounting for interest retained by Embark:
| Date From | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 25th March 2024 | 2.46% | 1.75% - 2.00% |
Embark can change the rate of interest at any time and it reviews the position at least quarterly. Interest is calculated and accrued daily and is credited to your account on the first of each month. If you transfer out, accrued interest is applied at the point of transfer. We will inform you if and when the interest rate changes as soon as is practicable.
Interest retained
The table below shows the yearly equivalent rates of interest Embark expects to pay based on a range of possible yearly interest rates it may earn.
| Interest Embark expects to earn | Customer Interest Rate | Interest retained by Embark |
|---|---|---|
| 0-1% | 0 – 0.46% | 0 – 0.54% |
| 1-2% | 0.46% – 0.94% | 0.54% – 1.06% |
| 2-3% | 0.94% – 1.46% | 1.06% – 1.54% |
| 3-4% | 1.46% – 2.02% | 1.54% – 1.98% |
| 4-5% | 2.02% – 2.61% | 1.98% – 2.39% |
| 5%+ | 2.61%+ | 2.39%+ |
Historic Interest Rates
To see details of historic customer interest rates, along with the amount of interest retained by Embark, click here.
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Money held through Smart Savings with our partner banks is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This applies to all banks on our platform, including those that are smaller and perhaps less well known.
The FSCS protects deposits of up to £85,000 per person, per banking group. Your Transaction Account is also protected by the FSCS up to the same limits. You should bear in mind that these limits operate per banking group, particularly if you hold money with any of our bank partners other than through the Smart Savings platform.
We’ll always be clear which banking group a savings product is being offered by, enabling you to understand the extent of your protection. When you view the details of a savings product, you’ll find more details of the FSCS protection available.
In the unlikely event that a bank, with whom you hold a savings product, were to fail, you can make a claim directly with the FSCS. If it is confirmed that the bank has failed, then the FSCS should automatically return your money, up to the limits above.
Timescales for the return of your money can vary between different banks and banking groups, depending how your money is held. With some banks, your savings are held directly with the bank – in which case funds are usually returned within 2-3 days. With other banks, your money is held with the bank through a legal arrangement called a trust, which is looked after by a deposit administrator. In those cases, whilst it must always be clear exactly what money belongs to whom, in the event of a bank failure, it can take a little longer to return your money – perhaps up to three months but in practice often more quickly.
As all of our partner banks and deposit administrators are fully regulated in the UK, in the unlikely event that Willis Owen or Raisin UK were to cease trading, your deposits would still be protected by the FSCS.
If either Willis Owen or Raisin UK were to cease trading, then your funds would remain safe with the partner bank you originally deposited them with, and together we would contact you and provide you with the options for continuation of your deposit that are available to you at that time.
