I have wondered about this for ages and think I must be missing something somewhere. There are at present 212 easy access ISAs showing on the ms calculator. first direct's - HSBC a hugely strong and large bank owns fd - easy access ISA pays the highest rate at 3.0%, which is fixed admittedly although it's sold as a plus point (they wouldn't fix it if they thought rates were going to go down). To take one example from the list the tiny Earl Shilton which got into trouble during the crisis is paying 1.9%. Why would anybody want to invest in "an" Earl Shilton? Conversely why doesn't everybody invest in fd's 3.0%er?
I cheated withe "Help" cos I've noticed that at ms "cure is better than prevention" much more popular.
ps If anyone is thinking of applying do make sure you find out all necessary information "in print". Telephone customer service is very unreliable.