Its mini cash ISA is its primary offering. Cash ISAs allow the customer to invest in Building Society deposits, UK and European authorised Bank deposits, cash unit trusts or National Savings while Mini ISAs allow customers to invest in just one of these components on an annual basis.

The fixed-rate version of Halifax’s offering pays a rate of 5.30 per cent AER/gross p.a. on a one-year term, with a minimum opening investment of £3,000 and no additional deposits allowed. Interest is paid upon maturity, at the end of the fixed term, into the account - and withdrawals can only be made upon closure.

Its variable rate ISA pays a maximum of 4.50 per cent AER/gross p.a. on balances in excess of £27,000, with a nominal minimum opening investment of £1 and additional deposits allowed up to the annual subscription limit per tax year. Interest is paid annually on April 5th and withdrawals are allowed - with a minimum of £10 to be taken out at any one time. Up to £3,000 can be invested per tax year in this account.

The bank’s ISA Saver Direct is another popular service, featuring extremely competitive interest rates of up to 5.25 per cent AER/gross p.a. It shares most of the facets of the variable rate ISA, but has the added bonus of being manageable online or over the phone, with the balance able to be viewed on the internet. Unlimited withdrawals of £10 or more can be made by telephone or online without prior notice.

Halifax also offers a self-select ISA. This facilitates dealing in stocks and shares and comes in both Mini and Maxi versions with £4,000 (in the former) or £7,000 (in the latter) investable in each tax year up to April 2010. Regular payments - as a minimum of £50 a month - can be made into these accounts or lump-sums can be paid in as one-offs. Interest is still accumulated on the cash in these ISAs while the customer decides what stocks and shares to purchase. Shares which are already owned by the account holder can often be cashed in, too, and used to buy more shares for this Halifax ISA.

A dedicated transfer service can work to transfer existing ISAs to Halifax if a customer desires, aiming to make the process as streamlined as possible. A highly reputable high street bank, Halifax provides ISAs which are very competitive in today’s rapidly-growing market.

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The building society has announced the new range of fixed rate ISAS which can cover one, two or three years, offering a 5.3 per cent interest rate and can be opened with an investment of between £1 and £3,000.

Annual interest is paid on March 31st and customers are able to see monthly interest, at a rate of 5.15 per cent gross, placed into another account on the final day of each month and on maturity.

“As part of our ongoing commitment to deliver great value products, we are delighted to extend our ISA range and offer customers more ways to save tax-free and receive a very competitive rate,” commented Stuart Bernau, Nationwide’s executive director.

Mr Bernau explained that ISAS can be “an excellent way” to invest savings, adding: “We would encourage anyone who wishes to see a guaranteed return on their money to open up a fixed-rate ISA bond today.”

Customers currently holding a cash ISA or Tessa maturity ISA are able to transfer existing balances into a fixed rate bond and Nationwide has stated this will not affect their annual ISA subscription limits.

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Customers who make direct investments of at least £4,000 into one or more of its geographical index-tracking trusts within an ISA before the end of April are eligible for the rebate, provided that they do not cash in part or all of their investment and that they hold this investment in the same trust without switching to any eligible or non-eligible trust until the end of next year.

Claire Stracey, wealth management director for customer marketing at Legal & General, said: “Our Index-Tracking ISAs do not charge initial fees or exit fees.

“We believe this offer, to refund the annual management charge on this range of index-tracking ISAs across the UK and International markets, presents lump sum investors with a value for money investment that’s hard to beat.”

This offer counts for new investment, PEP and ISA transfers as well as top-ups from existing Legal & General investors across a range of five index-tracking trusts.

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The bank describes its Mini Cash ISA as a kind of “umbrella”, sheltering the interest you earn on your savings from the predatory advances of the taxman. This investment lets you save up to £3,000 per annum without paying tax on the interest, and prides itself on the instant access a saver has to their money. It also has a tiered set of interest rates - meaning that the more somebody saves, the more they earn.

Barclays’s Five-Year Protected FTSE Plan is an altogether vaster offering aimed at customers “who want to benefit from the growth potential of the FTSE 100 Index but want to protect their initial investment”. The returns on investment are linked directly to the FTSE 100 Index’s performance and promise to equal 115 per cent of any rises it experiences compared with the averaged-out 12-month level of the Index. It does have a potential early maturity option, with a plan able to mature early if, on September 14th 2009, the FTSE 100 Index’s level is 20 per cent or more above the initial index level. An enhanced return equal to 23 per cent of the initial investment is promised in such instances.

The plan is not suitable for people who want regular returns on their money or wish to add to their savings regularly, along with those who might want to access their cash over a five-year period.

Barclays Stockbrokers also offers a range of self-select ISAs based on a broad range of tradable products and investing tools - allowing up to £7,000 per year to be invested and allowing the investor to enjoy tax-free profits at any time in his or her life. Self-select ISAs - available both in maxi and mini varieties - are ideal for those who would like to gain the tax benefits of a regular ISA but desire to have control over their investment choices. Stocks and shares, Funds, Covered Warrants and Investment Notes are among the areas into which money can be stored, leaving a wide range of options open to the more creatively-minded investor.

When an investor trades more than ten times in a quarter the commission rate sinks to as low as £7.50 per online trade from its standard £12 - demonstrating that this kind of ISA is well and truly beneficial for the proactive and dynamic individual.

The figures showed that 70 per cent of the public believes that the government does not do enough to encourage them to save – and more than half want to ISA limit bumped up as a result.

This comes as a 3.1 per cent drop in net sales of fund-based ISAs was revealed for November by the Investment Management Association, although F&C said that its findings are not intended to coincide with this statistic.

Head of communications Jason Hollands said: “[It] may represent a combination of people cashing up once they had made up lost ground after the sharp falls in May, a background of a nuclear test in North Korea and nervousness about interest rate rises.”

It’s not all bad news though – as this season is thought by many advisor firms to have a good chance of being one of the best yet for ISAs.

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A typical ISA customer who fails to put the maximum £3,000 into a Cash Mini ISA between January 1st and April 5th could miss out on interest of some £38.54 – and when this is factored into the country’s 12 million ISA savers that means huge amount of money is going begging.

Easier quotes Alexia Kilby, head of savings marketing at Abbey, as saying: “Many people leave saving in an ISA to the last minute.

“However, the lost interest of delaying is significant. It is important to remember that people can use their £3,000 tax free ISA allowance at any time, not just at the tax-year end.”

Abbey itself offers a competitive range of ISA services, including its Easy ISA and Postal ISA products. Both offer savers interest rates of up to 5.15 per cent.

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The essence of an ISA is that it allows for investment with tax savings – effectively acting as an umbrella encompassing products which receive benevolent tax treatment. People over 18 can invest up to £7,000 annually (those between 16 and 18 see a limit of £3,000), with this limit set until 2009 amid plenty of clamour for it to be increased. Once you have invested the full amount you cannot put any more in that year, even if you withdraw a certain amount before the 12 months is out.

Cash ISAs and stocks & shares ISAs are the two main types of ISA on offer – with a third, the insurance ISA, having been scrapped in April 2005. Both varieties hold different benefits and challenges for the ISA customer.

Mini and maxi ISAs are the two sub-categories to be found within these types, which effectively offer tax-free savings in a deposit account, providing a higher rate of interest than other offerings by the bank or building society in question.

Maxi ISAs have the aforementioned £7,000 limit – with the account having to be held with one single provider. Money can be invested both in cash (up to £3,000) and in stocks & shares (up to the full amount), but they tend to be more orientated to the latter, being designed for longer-term saving and not always providing easy access to your cash. As a rule of thumb, some experts believe that you should leave your money in a stocks & shares ISA untouched for five years.

Stocks & shares ISAs themselves are often for the adventurous, creative investor who likes to pick and mix. They can include shares and corporate bonds issues on any recognised stock exchange on the planet along with gilts and shares in UK-authorised unit trusts, among other possibilities. Profit is not guaranteed, but capital gains tax does not have to be paid on any money made.

Mini ISAs can see up to £4,000 put into stocks & shares and up to £3,000 put into cash. Each element can be taken from a different provider, but the limits are rigid – meaning that if you put £2,000 into cash you cannot invest a further £1,000 in stocks & shares. Customers are limited to one mini ISA per tax year, and cannot hold both a mini and maxi ISA during the same period.

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Rob Fisher, head of FundsNetwork marketing, noted that diversity is the buzzword for investors this year, while the specialist sector looks likely to dominate proceedings in the near future.

He observed: “Just as last year’s analysis of our sector sales also demonstrated, investors are taking an increasingly diversified approach to their investments, which is very encouraging.”

Interest in property and natural resource funds has been cited as a reason for the considerable success enjoyed by the specialist sector in 2006, when it came top of all investment products having been seventh a year previously.

There have been many calls for the ISA limit to be raised from its current level of £7,000, at which is has sat since ISAs were introduced in 1999.

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Despite this, 57 per cent of us are not aware that we can switch to a different provider – even though a person switching a typical savings amount from a low-rated cash ISA into a stocks and shares ISA tracking the FTSE 100 would have seen their decision yield £300 before dividends last year on the capital growth of the investment.

Jason Hollands, director of F&C Investments, commented: “2006 was an excellent year for stock markets and, providing there are no nasty shocks over the next couple of months, that should make for a bumper ISA season as investors seek to utilise their allowances before the end of the tax year.

“Before investing new money, it makes sense to review existing investments to ensure that you have a sensible spread that meets your risk profile and objectives. If necessary it might make sense to switch existing ISAs into alternative plans.”

Of those surveyed who currently have a cash ISA, 5.6 per cent said that they would definitely consider switching to a stocks and shares product while 42.3 per cent said they could consider doing so in the future.

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Peter Shipp, technical director at Pima, told Investment Week that a swift announcement after the deadline would benefit the industry.

He said: “At this point, we are unsure whether new ISA rules will be implemented on April 6th 2007 or April 7th 2008 and this leaves the industry in a state of flux wondering when the new rules will apply.”

Proposed reforms announced in December included an extension of the ISA system beyond 2010, scrapping the distinction between mini and maxi ISAs, an overall investment limit of at least £7,000 and the ability to transfer cash into equities without worrying about yearly subscription limits.

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