As well as economic growth and taxes, cash ISA cuts were one of the main topics of conversation following the Budget, after Rachel Reeves and the government unveiled plans to encourage people to invest.

It’s undeniable that, over the long term, investing money is a better option than merely cash saving. But in Britain, at least, investment hasn’t been part of recent culture or education.

That appears to be changing, with the conversation around investment going on all year – a positive move, even if it only helps people realise there is another option.

That shift is likely to continue into the new year as a multi-organisation advertising campaign gets underway and ISA season rolls around – hopefully encouraging some to take their first steps into a long-term journey.

None of this comes as a surprise to the companies that are our access points to investing: they have been steadily growing in activity all year, and in 2026, you – the potential customer – are likely to take centre stage. Here, The Independent looks at the changing face of UK investing – and how different platforms are trying to win your custom.

Legacy vs Challenger

There are a multitude of investment platforms, as they are known, to choose from. Very broadly, you can split them into established financial powerhouses and newer, tech-led challengers.

Hargreaves Lansdown, AJ Bell, interactive investor, Fidelity – they come into the former category. Your own high street banks do too, most offering investing products alongside your normal accounts.

They are trusted because they’ve been doing the job for years, providing easy access and a pain-free route from your current account to ISA and beyond.

But, also because they’ve been doing it for years, some did the big bank thing: got stuck in their ways and didn’t move with the times, allowing newcomers to sneak onto the scene.

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You’ll have seen or heard their names, watched the adverts, possibly even downloaded the apps: Freetrade, eToro, Trading 212, Revolut, Robinhood, Chip and more.

They all vary, yet share traits: they’ll tend to come with stand-out names, bright colours, low fees, more options or bold adverts.

Which suits you best depends on how you plan to manage your portfolio, how frequently you’ll buy or sell and perhaps how much you want to pay on an ongoing basis, but cumulatively they’ve changed the landscape of investing in the UK.

Of course, the established names have fought back: launching spin-off firms to attract younger customers or bringing everything back in-house to offer professional services, rebranding and re-energising and perhaps even re-realising that British adults’ long-term plans are the next must-win battleground to play on.

The choice is there – now must come the encouragement for more people to choose and use them.

UK investing culture

Speak to those working in or around finance about the push to encourage more retail investors (that’s what the everyday public is referred to as) and one answer comes back over and over: more education and awareness is needed.

But at least something is being done – at least the conversation has been restarted.

“Investing is something that’s being spoken about a lot now, but five years ago it wasn’t the case,” Jordan Sinclair, president of Robinhood UK, told The Independent.

“In Norway or Sweden, they have a great culture of saving regularly, and they have tax wrappers which look a lot like our ISA. But what’s probably missing versus Sweden is how do you educate people on how to use that? How to think about their money, where to invest it.

“Some of our research shows that the average amount people believed you needed to start [investing] was over £2,200. Just to start.

“When you look at some [legacy providers], and they havea minimum amount £500, account fees, £11.95 for the first trade… you can’t blame people for saying ‘I’ll just leave it in my cash account’.

“We see an opportunity to level the playing field, catch up to some of those countries – and we’ll do it in our own way, maybe with still a slight bias towards cash savings but some of the money will be working much harder for customers.”

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In the US, people are far more used to investing as a concept and as a future method of wealth. Statistics are varied because resources invariably classify “investing” differently, but Brits are generally seen to be behind the curve against European nations like Germany or parts of Scandinavia.

Improved financial education in schools coming into the curriculum might bear fruit in a decade, but there’s a big chunk of the population who could be doing more with their money now, if they knew how.

“Where I think there’s room for collaboration is on initiatives to make sure the regulator hears what firms need, and the Treasury is supported,” Sinclair said. “Revisiting risk warnings, educating customers rather than scaring them away. It’s hard to undo what’s been done, but this is about thinking for the next generation, educating today’s under-55s: what about your pension? What do you need for long-term savings?

“It’s not just thinking of today. You add up all these initiatives and the retail investment awareness campaign, all this momentum [that’s what makes long-term change].”

While those saving money might be thinking about this year or next, investing has a much longer timeframe.

For companies that operate in that space, the thinking can be even longer term – decades or more, as many of those banks and investment platforms have been around for.

“We think about what’s now and what’s next at the same time, what customers want and how we deliver something better,” Mr Sinclair explained. “Being in that growth mode is different to being at a [big bank] when you probably try to move one place in the rankings table.”

The big safeguarding concern

For Robinhood specifically, “what’s next” will be an ISA, launching before the end of the tax year in April. That will be a draw for new clients, as new features or services always are, and it’s a product most people already understand.

But when it comes to investing, education and trying to encourage people to start a new financial journey, there’s a wider concern which is especially important on newer tech-led, all-encompassing platforms.

That is: how do you effectively gateway or barricade people who are new to the entire investing arena, away from products which are inherently not suited to them?

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Most people, even if they don’t invest now, will still have a broad concept of what you mean if you say “the stock market”.

Yet those same people – slowly and purposely learning about funds or dividends or any other run-of-the-mill term which could genuinely better their financial positions over the long term – are often only one missed finger-click away on their phones (or menu tab on their computers) from much more complex and risky options.

Cryptocurrencies are an obvious one. But there are also frequently options for futures trading, commodities, FX trading, CFDs, leveraged options, and even copycat trading to mimic other investors’ decisions.

There is a strong argument to suggest many of these shouldn’t be accessible by novices until they have either shown competency in standard investing, for want of a better term, or have completed courses to display a thorough understanding of what they are used for and why the risks are far higher.

But the rise of so-called everything apps appears unstoppable, and finance-led firms are part of this.

Choice is great, of course, and many people may prefer to have all their money matters under one roof, so to speak. But it also represents a challenge to not allow companies’ commercial interests to outweigh responsibility towards clients.

The battle for your custom, your money and your attention will only ramp up into 2026.

A requirement, then, must be on those platforms to ensure they educate as well as entice, and provide reliable knowledge as well as potential wealth.

New Delhi: Pakistan is witnessing the institutionalisation of a “survivalist” economy where every policy choice is dictated by the need to pass the next International Monetary Fund (IMF) review, regardless of whether that policy erodes the tax base for the next decade, while the economy remains vulnerable as ever — headed nowhere except, most likely, into another IMF programme, as per a news report. 

The report in Business Recorder by Shahid Sattar reveals that Pakistan suffers from a chronic twin deficit: a fiscal gap (spending more than it collects) and a balance of payments crisis (consuming more foreign exchange than it earns).

“For fifty years, our imports have hovered at double the rate of our exports as a percentage of GDP. Simply, Pakistan is a country that has failed to produce,” it added.

The report argued that the fundamental flaw in the IMF’s approach is a “dogmatic adherence to revenue extraction at the cost of value creation”.

“By forcing the government to meet rigid fiscal targets, and through any means necessary at this point, the Fund has encouraged policies that stifle the very export-led growth required to break the debt cycle,” it further stated.

The historic economic model of state patronage was flawed and resulted in suboptimal allocation of resources.

“But there is a difference between weaning an addict off drugs and starving a healthy person. The IMF programme appears unable to distinguish between withdrawing support and subsidies, and actively destroying the ecosystem required for legitimate businesses to function,” the report further argued.

On paper, the IMF deals with the Finance Minister and the Governor of the State Bank. Technically, all policies within the Letter of Intent are the government’s own ideas.

“In reality, the programme reflects the behest of those holding the greatest political and economic leverage. When policies fail, the IMF claims the government designed them; the government claims the IMF demanded them. This ambiguity serves everyone but the country and its citizens,” the report lamented.

“Unless we reclaim our policymaking from the narrow, revenue-centric confines of IMF programmes, we are not just managing a crisis but rather our own decline,” it added.

New Delhi: Missed the December 31 deadline to file a revised or belated income tax return for FY 2024–25? Don’t panic just yet. While the window to revise your ITR has officially closed, it doesn’t mean your tax refund is gone for good. The rules simply take a different turn now and there’s still a way you may be able to claim what’s rightfully yours.

What happens after the December 31 deadline?

Up to December 31, taxpayers still had the option to file a belated return if they missed the original due date or submit a revised return to fix mistakes in an already filed ITR. However, once the calendar turned to January 1, both these options were shut for AY 2025–26. This means you can no longer file or revise your return now even if the Income Tax Department has not yet processed your earlier filing.

Is your tax refund still safe?

Yes, there’s some good news here. If you have already filed your ITR within the due date and are eligible for a refund, you can still receive it even after December 31. The Income Tax Department can process returns and release refunds later as well. That said, if there are mistakes in your return, the way to fix them now depends on what kind of error it is.

How can you claim your refund now? Here are the available options

Rectification request under Section 154 (most commonly used)

If your return has already been processed and you have received an intimation under Section 143(1), but the refund amount is incorrect or has been denied due to an error, you can file a rectification request. This option is useful when the issue is related to TDS or TCS mismatch, wrong tax or interest calculation, arithmetical or clerical mistakes, or incorrect carry-forward of losses. Rectification requests can be filed online through the income tax e-filing portal and remain available even after the December 31 deadline. For most taxpayers, this is the main route to claim or increase a refund in 2026.

Wait it out if your return is still under processing

If your ITR status shows “under processing”, there is no need to rush. The Centralised Processing Centre (CPC) has a fixed time limit to process returns and issue an intimation. If a refund is due and no discrepancies are found, it will be credited automatically along with applicable interest. In case the processing gets delayed beyond the allowed period, taxpayers can raise a grievance on the e-filing portal or through CPGRAMS.

Updated Return (ITR-U): Use with caution

From January 1 onwards, taxpayers can file an Updated Return (ITR-U), but this option has clear limitations. ITR-U can only be used to report additional income or correct under-reported income. It cannot be used to claim a new refund or increase an existing one. In fact, filing an ITR-U usually means paying extra tax along with interest, making it an unsuitable option for those hoping to get a refund.

Next steps to avoid missing your refund

Taxpayers should first check the status of their ITR on the income tax e-filing portal and keep an eye out for the intimation notice once it is issued. If you spot any mismatch or error affecting your refund, file a rectification request without delay. Also, make sure your bank account details are correctly entered and verified on the portal, as incomplete or unverified information can lead to unnecessary refund delays.