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Neil S

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Review of the Marcus by Goldman Sachs, Savings:

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Poor experience with Cash ISA transfer out of Marcus

Last year, I switched an ISA over to Marcus. Switching over was straightforward and was done electronically from the previous provider. Fast forward to earlier in 2023 when I wanted to switch the ISA out of Marcus to another provider. I was unable to transfer my ISA electronically from Marcus to the new provider as Marcus does not support electronic transfers. Sadly, I only became aware of this at the time I wanted to transfer the ISA out of Marcus as this information is not made clear in the product particulars. It is only if you read the FAQs on ISAs that it tells you that Marcus does not support BACS transfers out of ISAs. So what does this mean in practice? It means that in order to transfer your ISA out of Marcus, you have to complete a form from your new provider which you have to hand in to a local branch of the new provider or post it to them. As you have to include personal information in the form, Imagine the security issues that this creates and what might happen if your form were to get lost in the post and fall into the hands of a less than honest third party! Once your new provider receives the completed form, they post it to Marcus (creating further security issues). Once Marcus receives it, they generate a cheque for your ISA funds and post it back to your new provider. Imagine what might happen if the cheque gets lost in the post. In the 21st century, we are expected to rely on such an antiquated system which relies on forms and cheques being put in the post rather than a simple electronic transfer! In my case, the transfer took 18 days in total. This is a process which a few banks complete electronically in no more than 48-72 hours. I contacted Marcus to ask if my new ISA provider could have emailed my completed form to them instead of putting it in the post. Marcus said that this is possible and even provided an email address to facilitate this. On checking this with my new provider, my understanding is that the email address cannot be used routinely. In the first instance, the completed form should always be sent by post. It is only if the form goes missing in the post that the email communication is normally used. I lodged a complaint with Marcus and spoke with a member of their customer services team. The long and short of it was that they will not change their process unless they receive a sufficient number of complaints like mine. I was even asked if they could consider my complaint ‘resolved’ to which I relented even though strictly, the complaint cannot be considered resolved. Bottom line is whenever you open a cash ISA with any provider, clarify from the outset whether they allow switching in and out of ISAs to be done electronically. If they don’t, then think very hard whether you want to open an ISA with them as you will potentially be faced with lengthy switch out transfer times as well as the associated significant security issues with documents being sent by post! Reviewed on: 2nd July 2023

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