Online savings platform to wind down due to lack of new products, but customers' money is safe.
Online savings platform Governor Money has announced that it has stopped accepting new customers or further deposits to its products.
Governor is owned by Family Investments and offered a range of savings and Cash ISA products via one online account. However, the products were all provided by third parties, mostly small building societies offering exclusive rates.
Its selling points included the ability to split your annual Cash ISA allowance across different providers, one consolidated monthly statement for all the different accounts a customer held and rate alerts when interest rates were dropping. We were big fans of the service for all those reasons.
[SPOTLIGHT]However, it has struggled to secure decent products in recent months. It says: “Unfortunately we have a scarcity of products to offer on the platform which, in the long term, goes against our original commitment to provide a range of products to choose from in order to get the best return for our customers.”
Governor has blamed the Government’s Funding For Lending scheme, designed to kickstart mortgage lending, for its decision to wind down its service. Savings rates have plummeted in recent months as banks and building societies don’t need so much cash coming in from savers to lend to mortgage customers.
If you're a Governor Money customer
The good news for Governor customers is that their money is safe and is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. It will continue to earn the same rates of interest.
Be aware that if you have a fixed-term product, for example a savings account that you’re locked into for a number of years, you will not be able to withdraw the money until the term is up.
If you have a Cash ISA, you may face an early closure charge from the provider running the account and an administration charge from Governor. Again, if you have a fixed-term product you won’t be able to access the money until the term is up.
If you’re able to withdraw your money, you should be careful to ensure any Cash ISA funds are transferred to another ISA, otherwise they will lose their tax-free status. You can see the latest best buy Cash ISAs that accept transfers in from other providers in our article Top Cash ISAs for transfers.
If you have questions, you can sign in to your Governor account and send a secure message or call them on 0845 121 3315.