Shamed: Britain’s stingiest cash Isas

They paid as little as £1 interest ALL year for each £1,000 you saved – and are cutting rates again!

BRITAIN’S biggest banks paid savers as little as £1 on every £1,000 in their cash Isas last year — and 34 deals paid £10 or less.

A Money Mail investigation has found how Halifax and Santander got away with paying just 0.1 pc to some cash Isa savers for the whole of 2015.

Our analysis of more than 70 accounts from the biggest banks and building societies showed that half of these deals paid £10 or less on £1,000 savings.

Some big banks paid out less than i n 2014, even though Bank of England base rate has been frozen at 0.5 pc since March 2009.

NatWest’s Cash Isas paid out the equivalent of £5 for every £1,000 saved for those who had £10,000 — that’s 45 pc lower than what it paid in 2014.

The drop is due to a sharp cut in i ts rate i n February l ast year, followed by yet another reduction in December.

This shows just how devastating it can be for savers who think they are in a decent account — and the importance of checking your rate regularly.

At the start of last year, the bank paid 0.75 pc on balances up to £10,000. By February, the rate was down at 0.5 pc and is now just a paltry 0.25 pc.

Savers who fail to move their money from this poor-paying deal will see interest drop even further to just £25 next year. Those with £25,000 in the account will also see a sharp drop in 2016.

For the first 11 months of 2015 they earned 1 pc, but this rate was halved to just 0. 5 pc at the start of December. They earned just less than £240 interest, and that will tumble to just £125 this year if rates stay as they are.

Other big banks have also joined the rate-cutting frenzy this year.

Savers in Barclays Instant Cash Isa 1 were paid 1.28 pc at the start of the year. But the rate tumbled to just 0.8 pc in September.

This year it paid £115 interest on £10,000, down from £128 in 2014. But anyone sticking in the account next year will earn just £80 over the next 12 months.

And at Santander, those in its Direct Isa 9 opened at the start of 2015 earned just £100 interest on a £10,000 sum.

But for this coming year they will see an even lower £79 — or £7.90 for each £1,000 — if they don’t move their money.

The bank transfers those in its Direct Isa accounts into its Isa Saver after 12 months. Once there, your rate will drop to 0.75 pc at the end of February.

The rate on sums under £10,000 drops from its current 0.5 pc to a measly 0.25 pc.

Halifax follows the same tactic. Its Isa Saver Variable now pays a poor 0.6 pc. But after 12 months you’ll earn an even lower 0.25 pc — or £25 on £10,000 when you are transferred into its Instant Isa Saver.

Saver sin poor-paying accounts should get out now. There is no point in waiting for a rise in base rate in the hope things will improve as there is no guarantee that banks and building societies will raise rates on these dud accounts even when the rise finally materialises.

By switching to even an average deal, savers can at l east quadruple their return. The average rate on easy-access accounts opened now is 0.99 pc, Bank of England figures reveal. But there are better deals around paying as much as 1.5 pc — or £150 interest on £10,000. The City regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, has ruled that banks and building societies must set out details of your account more clearly and let you know within 14 days of any future change to your rate. But these rules don’t come in to force until December 1, 2016. The top deals are 1.5 pc from Coventry BS Easy Access Isa, and 1.51 pc with the Post Office Online Isa — but the rate includes a bonus for the first year, after which it drops to 0.65 pc.

Other good deals include Virgin Money at 1.41 pc, along with Kent Reliance and Yorkshire BS at 1.35 pc.

To switch your cash Isa to a better deal, check that your chosen provider accepts transfers into the account — not all do.

Fill in its transfer form and ask it to organise it for you.

It can take up to 15 days for the process to go through — although around two-thirds are completed more quickly.

If it takes any longer than this, your new provider must start paying you the higher rate after 15 days.