Moneybox launches Lifetime ISA

The robo micro-investment app has become the fifth company to launch a LISA.

Since the product’s launch in April, the Lifetime Individual Savings Account (LISA) has been adopted by Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell and The Share Centre, as well as fellow disruptor Nutmeg.

The Moneybox app allows users to round up purchases and invest the spare change into one of three passive funds, depending on the user’s preferred risk.

With a LISA, consumers are able to save up to £4,000 a year, with 25 per cent bonus on top if you are a first-time buyer using it to go towards a mortgage. Once opened, it cannot be withdrawn from for the first 12 months.

Presented as an alternative to the Help to Buy ISA, take up has been slow among providers. On top of this, rival robo advisory provider Nutmeg released a statement last month that it would not be offering a transfer service from Help to Buy ISAs into its LISA, despite previously announced plans.

However, it seems that the Moneybox product might be more expensive for smaller investors than its robo counterpart.

According to data calculated by the Financial Times, customers saving the maximum £5,000 allowance in the first year would pay a total of £45.96 to Moneybox on the investment, plus a monthly £1 usage fee, a 0.45 per cent platform fee and another 0.22 - 0.24 per cent on provider fees.

The Nutmeg LISA, comparably, would cost a total of £47.50 inclusive of fees.