Best Junior Cash ISAs Rates

In the following guide, we look at the interest rates on Junior ISAs (JISAs), which can be opened online. We also explain the benefits and drawbacks of such accounts.

Best Online Junior Cash ISA Rates For Kids Savings

Junior Cash ISAs are individual savings accounts for children that are structured as a “tax wrapper” which just means there’s no tax on the interest you earn from money in the account. We’ve scoured the market to find the best interest on junior cash ISAs so you can make more from your savings.
  1. Leek Building Society Junior Cash ISA – 3.85% AER – £349.37 interest on £9,000.
  2. Beverley Building Society Junior Cash ISA – 3.85% AER – £349.37 interest on £9,000.
  3. Skipton Building Society Junior Cash ISA (Issue 14) – 3.80% AER – £344.79 interest on £9,000.
  4. The Stafford Building Society Junior Cash ISA Issue 2 – 3.76% AER – £341.14 interest on £9,000.
  5. Danske Bank Junior Cash ISA – 3.75% AER – £340.22 interest on £9,000.

What is a Junior Cash ISA (JISA)?

Junior Individual Savings Accounts (JISAs) are long-term, tax-free savings accounts for individuals under the age of 18.

As of the 2026–2027 tax year, the annual savings limit across all of a child’s JISAs is £9,000. It is possible to open multiple JISAs, but the limit still applies.

The chief benefit of JISAs is that no tax is payable on earnings from savings held in them up to the limit. This includes interest on cash, or capital growth and dividends from investments.

Parents can open a JISA for a child of any age, but a child can only open a JISA for themselves between the ages of 16 and 18.

Children can also make decisions about their existing JISAs after the age of 16, but they cannot withdraw the money until they are 18.

Pros and cons of JISAs

JISAs effectively lock away savings for a child until they reach the age of 18. Depending on your perspective (i.e., whether you are a concerned parent or a spendthrift whippersnapper), this could be a good or bad thing.

As children have access to the same tax benefits on earnings from savings as adults – including the £12,570 personal allowance, £5,000 starting savings allowance, and the £1,000 personal savings allowance (PSA) – the financial benefits of JISAs for most children are questionable.

This is because they are eligible to earn up to £18,570 from their own savings, which can be held in different kinds of savings or investment accounts. These may offer better returns on interest or investments and allow withdrawals before the age of 18.

However, if the child earns more than £100 a year in interest from money given by a parent, then holding it in a JISA could be worthwhile from a financial perspective. This is because if this threshold is exceeded, the entire amount may be taxed at the parent’s tax rate (although the parent’s personal savings allowance also applies).

Who can contribute to a Cash JISA?

Anyone, including parents, step-parents, grandparents, friends of the family, and the child themselves, can contribute to a JISA.

What happens to a junior Cash ISA at 18?

Junior ISAs automatically turn into an adult ISA when the child turns 18. The money can then be withdrawn from the account by the child, transferred to another type of savings account, or kept in the adult ISA.

Adult ISAs offer similar benefits to JISAs, with the tax-free earnings allowance instead set at £20,000 a year.

How to get the best rate for your child’s Junior ISA?

You can get much better returns if you use a stocks and shares junior ISA as cash ISAs pay less interest than the rate of inflation. This means that even though your child’s nest egg is growing, it is growing slower than inflation, which is the cost of everyday items.

This can make a huge difference in the long term. The current leading Junior Cash ISAs in our comparison pay around 3.75% to 3.85% AER, meaning £9,000 would earn roughly £340 to £349 over a year at today’s rates. Cash rates are variable and, if they fall below inflation, the real spending power of your child’s savings will decline even though the balance is increasing.

By comparison, investing gives the money the potential to benefit from stock-market growth and compounding over the many years a child may hold a Junior ISA. The average Hargreaves Lansdown Junior ISA maturing in 2025/26 was worth £21,265, up from £19,537 the previous year.

The benefits can continue after the child turns 18. HL calculates that if £21,265 remained invested for another 10 years and achieved an average 5% annual return, it could grow to around £35,000 by age 28, even without further contributions. Adding £200 a month could potentially increase it to more than £66,000.

Plus, Junior Investment ISAs can encourage longer-term investing habits. 85% of HL customers whose JISAs matured in 2024/25 still had money invested a year later, while around a quarter had made additional contributions.

How do Cash JISAs differ from Stocks & Shares JISAs?

A Junior Cash ISA (or Cash JISA) allows a child to earn interest on savings held in the account.

Any cash held in such accounts is usually protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) guarantee of up to £85,000 on deposits, should the provider fail. However, the state-owned National Savings and Investments (NS&I) bank, which offers a JISA, guarantees any savings held in its accounts.

By contrast, Stocks & Shares JISAs allow a child to earn returns from investments in the stock market.

While interest on cash typically offers lower returns than the stock market, it comes with a lower risk of losses. Any money invested in the stock market can be permanently lost, should the investment fail, while this is unlikely to happen to cash.

However, if the rate of inflation is higher than the interest rate provided by the account, or if the currency depreciates, then the real value of the savings can fall.

If you are prepared to take some risk for potentially better returns, these providers offer investment junior ISAs.

Good Money Guide has tested and ranked the best junior stocks and shares ISA providers and accounts in the UK that are regulated by the FCA.

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