Moneybox

Moneybox's personal pension charges a flat 0.15% service fee, capped at £150 a year on Moneybox's own funds. No trading fees. No transfer fees. No tiered nonsense where your first £100k costs more than your second.

What does that mean in practice?

• £10,000 pot: £15/year
• £50,000 pot: £75/year
• £100,000 pot: £150/year (the cap kicks in)
• £500,000 pot: still £150/year
• £1,000,000 pot: still £150/year

Add the fund charge — Moneybox funds carry a 0.29% fund fee — and your all-in cost is about 0.44% on a £100k pot, or £440 a year. That undercuts Vanguard's 0.15% platform fee plus fund costs (capped at £375 a year on platform alone) and demolishes Hargreaves Lansdown's uncapped 0.45% on the first £250k.

Important detail on fund choice. The 0.15% capped fee applies to Moneybox funds. Choose third-party funds instead and the service fee becomes 0.45% on the first £100,000, then 0.15% on any amount above that, with no cap. That's fine on smaller pots but gets expensive above £100k. If you want maximum fund choice in a pension, AJ Bell or Interactive Investor are better. For straightforward pension consolidation with a genuinely competitive fee structure, Moneybox remains best-in-class. For more on pension options, see our pensions hub.

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Moneybox has introduced Moneybox funds — ready-made, expert-managed portfolios with a service fee of just 0.15%, plus a 0.29% fund fee. That's a genuine change, and it makes Moneybox's own fund range competitive with Vanguard for the first time.

The full investing fee picture as of September 2026:

• £1/month subscription — free for the first three months; waived if you hold £5,000+ across investing accounts, or £5,000+ in the Cash ISA, Open Access Cash ISA or Simple Saver
• Moneybox funds: 0.15% service fee + 0.29% fund fee
• Other providers' funds: 0.45% service fee + fund fee (varies, roughly 0.12% to 0.31%)
• US stocks: 0.45% currency conversion fee, 0% commission

The legacy 0.45% platform fee is where most investors still land. On £10,000 in third-party funds you'd pay about £45 in service fees plus £12 for the subscription (before any waiver) plus fund costs — call it 0.7% all-in. On the new Moneybox funds, the same £10,000 costs 0.15% + 0.29% = 0.44% plus subscription.

Compare that to Vanguard Investor (0.15% platform fee, no subscription): roughly 0.27% all-in on £10,000. And InvestEngine charges 0% platform fee on its managed portfolios.

The £1/month subscription is clever pricing disguised as trivial. On a £500 ISA it adds a hidden 2.4% annual charge before you reach the 0.45% service fee — a terrible deal for the small savers Moneybox markets to. The £5,000 waiver is the fix, but most new investors won't hit it for years.

Investment range: still deliberately narrow. Three risk-rated Starting Options (Cautious, Balanced, Adventurous), around 40 funds, ESG variants, and 20 US individual stocks — Apple, Amazon, Coca-Cola and similar mega-caps. No UK individual shares, no investment trusts, no bonds, no broad fund marketplace. Fine for a first ISA, actively frustrating once you know what you're doing. Read our investing hub for more on building a portfolio.

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Moneybox's Cash ISA now pays 4.57% AER (variable) — up from 4.52% in August, per Moneybox's page as of 24 August 2026. The number that matters is still 3.45%.

The 4.57% rate includes a 1.12% bonus that lasts exactly 12 months. After that, you drop to the underlying rate of 3.45%. It's a loyalty-lag strategy — and it works because most people don't switch when the bonus expires.

There are strings attached even during the bonus period. Make four or more withdrawals in a 12-month window and your rate collapses to 0.75% AER. Drop your balance below £500 and the same happens. The minimum opening deposit is £500.

The Open Access Cash ISA offers 3.80% AER (variable) with unlimited withdrawals and a £1 minimum balance — no withdrawal penalty, no bonus expiry cliff. For most people it's the better product: you sacrifice 0.77% in headline rate for complete flexibility.

The Cash LISA pays 4.45% AER. This matters for first-home buyers. It's a variable rate including a 12-month introductory bonus. For someone using a Lifetime ISA, that's a 4.45% tax-free return plus the 25% government bonus on contributions up to £4,000 a year. No other LISA provider combines rates this high with the government bonus.

For context, the Bank of England held Bank Rate at 3.75% through the summer, and top easy-access cash ISAs are hovering around 4.0–4.6%. Moneybox's 4.57% is competitive, but the bonus expiry means you'll need to review it after 12 months. For full context on ISAs, see our ISA guide and our savings hub.

Moneybox is the UK's largest Lifetime ISA provider, responsible for over 100,000 first-home purchases. This isn't marketing — it's structural. No other platform has invested as heavily in the LISA product.

Moneybox offers both a Cash LISA and a Stocks & Shares LISA. The government adds a 25% bonus on contributions up to £4,000 a year — up to £1,000 of free money annually, or £2,000 a year for a couple both using LISAs.

The Cash LISA pays 4.45% AER (variable) including a first-year introductory bonus. For someone maxing out the £4,000 annual contribution, that's roughly £178 in interest plus the £1,000 government bonus.

The S&S LISA invests in the same Starting Options as the regular ISA — Cautious, Balanced or Adventurous. It's only suitable if you're at least five years from buying; short-term stock market exposure before a house purchase is a bad idea.

Important limits: you must be 18–39 to open a LISA, you can only contribute until age 50, and withdrawing for anything other than a first home (up to £450,000) or retirement triggers a 25% government penalty. Do not open a LISA unless you're certain it's for a home deposit or retirement.

One forward-looking caveat. The Treasury has consulted on a new first-time buyer ISA to replace the Lifetime ISA, with the 25% bonus paid at purchase rather than annually and no withdrawal penalty. The LISA still works today and remains the best available wrapper for first-home deposits, but the rules are changing. If you're several years from buying, keep an eye on the transition before locking in.

For more on first-time buyer strategies, see our first ISA guide.

Three specific use cases make Moneybox the best platform in the UK. For everything else, there are better options.

Use Moneybox if:

• You're consolidating old pensions. The 0.15% cap at £150 a year on Moneybox funds is the best simple-pension deal available. The pension finder works well, and multiple old pots can be combined in minutes. The fee structure is market-leading for pots over £100,000.
• You're a first-time buyer. The LISA is genuinely best-in-class, and the 4.45% Cash LISA rate is the highest available. The app guides you through the home-buying process and the track record of 100,000+ homes bought is unmatched.
• You want one app for everything. Savings, ISA, LISA, pension, JISA and business savings — no other app-based platform covers this much ground. The Cash ISA at 4.57% and Open Access Cash ISA at 3.80% are genuinely competitive.

Don't use Moneybox if:

• You have a large S&S ISA (over £20,000). The 0.45% service fee on third-party funds adds up. On £50,000 you're paying £225 a year versus £75 at Vanguard. The new 0.15% Moneybox funds narrow the gap, but the fund range is limited. For a large buy-and-hold portfolio, switch to Vanguard, AJ Bell or Interactive Investor.
• You want to pick individual UK shares, investment trusts or a wide fund range. Moneybox doesn't offer them. Try AJ Bell or Interactive Investor instead.
• You're chasing the highest savings rates without strings. The Cash ISA's 4.57% carries a 12-month bonus clock and a 0.75% penalty rate if you withdraw too often. The Open Access Cash ISA at 3.80% with no restrictions is the safer long-term bet if you value flexibility.
• You prefer a desktop interface. Moneybox is app-first. There's a web portal for some functions, but it's not a full desktop trading platform.

For independent guidance on choosing a platform, see MoneyHelper's comparison tool.

vs Vanguard: Vanguard is cheaper (0.15% platform fee, capped at £375) for S&S ISA investing, with excellent low-cost index funds. But Vanguard doesn't offer cash ISAs, Lifetime ISAs or savings accounts. For cheap passive investing, Vanguard wins; for pensions + LISA + savings in one place, Moneybox is more versatile. On pensions, Moneybox's £150 cap beats Vanguard's £375 cap for pots above £100k.

vs AJ Bell: AJ Bell charges 0.25% on funds (capped at £42 a year for ETFs/shares) and offers thousands of funds, investment trusts, UK and international shares — far more flexible and cheaper for most portfolios. But AJ Bell doesn't offer round-ups, a 4.57% Cash ISA or a LISA ecosystem that comes close to Moneybox's. For choice and cost, AJ Bell wins; for simplicity and LISA-first saving, Moneybox wins.

vs InvestEngine: Zero platform fee on managed portfolios — the cheapest investing anywhere. But it's investing-only: no cash savings, no LISA, no pension consolidation. For pure S&S ISA investing, InvestEngine is cheapest. For everything else, it doesn't compete.

vs Nutmeg (J.P. Morgan): Nutmeg charges 0.75% on managed pots under £100k, dropping to 0.35% above, plus fund fees — expensive for essentially the same managed-portfolio approach. Moneybox's new 0.15% Moneybox funds are far cheaper. Nutmeg's only edge is a slightly broader fund selection and a more sophisticated portfolio builder.

vs Trading 212: Zero platform fees, zero commission on stocks and a much broader range including UK and international shares — a better platform for active investors. But it doesn't offer LISAs, cash savings or pension consolidation. It's a trading app, not a financial life app.

For independent guidance, see MoneyHelper.

Capital at risk. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. You should seek independent financial advice before making any investment decisions. The value of investments can go down as well as up, and you may get back less than you invest. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may change in the future.

Moneybox Ltd is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN 712935). Your eligible cash deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per banking group (the limit increased from £85,000 in December 2025). Investments held through Moneybox are protected up to £85,000.

Moneybox uses a panel of partner banks to hold customer cash deposits, so your FSCS protection depends on which bank holds your money. The app shows you which banks your cash is allocated to. Investment assets (funds, ETFs, US stocks) are held in a nominee account, segregated from Moneybox Ltd's own assets.

Rates quoted are as of 13 September 2026 per Moneybox's website and are variable. Check Moneybox's cash ISA page and pension page for the latest rates before opening an account.