Spotlight: Principality Regular Saver ISA

Every year it's the same old story – savers rush to make use of their ISA allowance before the tax year ends on 5 April. And many lose this tax break because they never get round to opening an ISA account. There's a simple way of ensuring you make full use of your ISA allowance: open an account at the beginning of the tax year and invest on a monthly basis. Principality Building Society is launching an account on Monday designed specifically for this.

Its new Regular Saver ISA will pay 5.0 per cent, fixed until 5 April 2010. Customers can deposit between £20 and £300 each month – if you open an account this month and pay in the maximum £300 you will use your full cash ISA allowance over the term of the account. However, anyone who pays in a lesser amount will be able to top their account up in March next year. Withdrawals are not permitted during the fixed term and at maturity the funds will be moved into Principality's variable rate cash ISA. The rate on that account is currently 0.6 per cent so you should look to transfer your money into another ISA at that time.