Residents living in the United Kingdom have a financial product available to them known as an ISA or Individual Savings Accounts. Individual Savings Accounts were first introduced to United Kingdom residents on April 6, 1999 and were introduced for investment and saving purposes. TESSAs (Tax Exempt Special Savings Accounts) and Personal Equity Plans were around before Individual Savings Accounts came along and replaced them. A lot of folks felt that the introduction of Individual Savings Accounts catered merely to middle-class residents living in the United Kingdom, while the main purpose of Individual Savings Accounts was to cater to a wider variety of residents.

When the first Individual Savings Accounts were introduced, there were three main types; they were Mini ISAs, Maxi ISAs and TOISAs which were TESSA only ISAs. The whole goal of these three different Individual Savings Accounts was to allow residents to invest a certain amount of capital (up to £9,000 minus interest) into a TESSA. That invested capital could then be completely reinvested into a tax free form. A resident could not invest in a TOISA however, unless the previously invested in TESSA has grown older and matured a bit.

There are two main components that can be contained within an Individual Savings Accounts. The first component is the obvious cash based deposit, similar to the cash deposit one would make with any savings accounts for that matter. The second component consisted mainly of stocks. Any stock market investments, corporate or government bonds and the likes could also be invested into an Individual Savings Account. Those two components applied when it came to Mini ISAs and Maxi ISAs; TOISAs could only contain cash deposits.

Transferring ISA accounts between different managers were possible, but there are some initial guidelines to be followed during the process. A Cash ISA could be transferred into Stocks and Shares ISA, but a Stocks and Shares ISA could not be transferred into a Cash ISA. That particular transfer was made possible as of 2008 and 2009, before that making this transfer would have been impossible. The cash within a TOISA can be transferred into a regular Cash ISA; otherwise the cash within a TOISA would be treated as a component. If the resident with an ISA chooses to transfer the money on their own, the action will be noted as a withdrawal, and unless the subscription limit has not been reached, the particular resident will not be able to reinvest the money into an ISA.

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An Individual Savings Account is only available to United Kingdom (UK) residents. Individual Savings Accounts do come with a favorable status, while at the same time allowing residents to save and invest their money. There are just three main types of Individual Savings Accounts, and they are Mini ISAs, Maxi ISAs and TOISAs; although the government in the United Kingdom does not recognize the difference between Mini and Maxi ISAs as of the budget for March 2007.