Stocks & shares ISA

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Funds are a ready-made basket of investments. When you invest in funds, you’re buying into a mix of assets, which may include shares, property, government bonds. 

Shares are units of ownership in a company. When you buy shares, you’re effectively buying a small stake in a company. Companies sell shares to raise money, which they then use to expand their business. Investors, known as shareholders, are then free to buy and sell some or all of those shares on the stock market at any time.

If you need help, call our specialist team on 03456 076 180. Lines are open from 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays.

Yes, you can subscribe to more than one stocks & shares ISA across multiple providers, but you can only pay a new contribution into one HSBC or first direct stocks & shares ISA per tax year.

You may also subscribe to one cash ISA with HSBC, first direct or any other type(s) of ISA with other providers in the same tax year, subject to the overall subscription limit (which is £20,000 for the current tax year), and other eligibility criteria that may apply to other types of ISA.

The value of tax benefits and reliefs depends on your personal circumstances and tax rules may change in the future.

Any income and capital gains you earn from the investments in your stocks and shares ISA will be exempt from UK income tax and capital gains tax. And, you don’t have to mention your ISA on your UK tax return. 

Any income in your ISA from interest or dividends won't impact your UK personal savings allowance or your UK dividend allowance that you may be entitled to in relation to any non-ISA income. 

Please note the value of tax benefits and reliefs depends on your personal circumstances, and tax rules may change in the future.

If you've got an HSBC current or savings account with £100,000 or more and you've got broad financial needs, we offer a dedicated financial advice service. Eligibility criteria and fees apply.

Please note, we no longer offer online investment advice.

National Insurance number eligibility changes

From 6 April 2025 when you apply for an ISA:

How to find your National Insurance number

You can find your National Insurance number:

How to check if you're eligible for a National Insurance number

You can check if you’re eligible for a National Insurance number and apply online at GOV.UK -use their search tool and look under 'find national insurance number'.

How long it can take to apply for a National Insurance number

Government guidance states it can take up to 4 weeks to obtain a National Insurance number.

Why you need to apply for a National Insurance number if you're eligible

The Government has confirmed that from 6 April 2025, new ISA accounts must contain your National Insurance number, unless you’re not eligible to have one.

This is a change to previous ISA requirements where we could rely on your declaration that you don't have one.

From the 6 April 2025 we'll ask this new question about eligibility when you apply to open a new ISA with us, or apply to restart subscriptions to an existing ISA. This ensures that the new requirements are easy to understand.

Find out more about these changes

You can find out more about these changes at GOV.UK and reading their tax-free saving newsletter 14.

Cash ISA age limit

From 6 April 2024, there were changes to how old you need to be to open a cash ISA.

To open a new cash ISA, you need to be either:

Subscribing to more than one of the same type of ISA

If you're aged 18 or over, you're now able to subscribe to more than one of the same type of ISA in the same tax year – subject to staying within the overall annual limit.

For example, you could subscribe to a cash or stocks & shares ISA with one ISA provider and also subscribe to one with a different provider.

This change doesn’t apply to Lifetime ISAs, where it's still only possible to subscribe to one Lifetime ISA in a tax year. HSBC doesn't offer Lifetime ISAs.

From 6 April 2024, ISA rules were amended to allow subscriptions to more than one ISA of the same type in the same tax year with the same provider. These were optional changes, and HSBC are not offering this. This means that you can only subscribe to one stocks and shares ISA and one cash ISA with HSBC or first direct in the same tax year.

Other optional changes that not all providers implemented

If you've gone a whole tax year without making a subscription to an existing ISA, some providers will allow you to restart subscriptions without needing to complete a new application. HSBC are not currently allowing this.

Since 6 April 2024, some providers allow you to make a partial transfer of subscriptions made in the current tax year, but HSBC are not currently allowing this.

We'll update our website if we make any changes to our ISAs in the future.