A trio of banks have announced changes to their current accounts that will have a significant impact on customers, particularly those who overdraw - and for some it could be time to go elsewhere.
A trio of banks have announced changes to their current accounts that will have a significant impact on customers, particularly those who overdraw – and for some it could be time to go elsewhere.
New figures from the Payments Council show 1.1 million people have done just that in the past year, taking advantage of the industry's seven-day switching guarantee, and the latest developments may encourage others to follow suit.
Royal Bank of Scotland is moving long-standing account holders to a newer product with different charges, while the Co-operative Bank has made major alterations to its overdraft structure, and Barclays has introduced a rewards programme that may prove costly for those who overspend.
Around 140,000 RBS and NatWest customers, including those with Personal Current, Gold Cheque, Gold Plus and Private accounts, will be switched to its Select account by the end of May.
An RBS spokesman said: "We expect 70 per cent of the customers we're transferring between April and May, as part of this programme, to experience no increase in their total monthly overdraft fees."
That means more than 40,000 people - some paying as little as 2.5 per cent annual interest on individually negotiated deals - could now be charged considerably more, as Select has an overdraft rate of 19.89 per cent.
David Mann, a money spokesman at uSwitch.com, said: "This will come as nasty shock to tens of thousands of customers who will be left out of pocket - it seems that loyalty really doesn't pay.
"However, the silver lining for affected RBS and NatWest account holders could be that they take this as an opportunity to switch to a new, better account."
Those who find themselves worse off might want to consider moving to the Co-op, which has launched an overdraft that will reduce the cost of borrowing for all its customers.
It has abolished the £20 annual arrangement fee and £15 unpaid item charge. The daily fee for unauthorised borrowing has been halved from £20 to £10 and the maximum quarterly charge slashed from £150 to £60.
Customers have a £20 unauthorised borrowing buffer before fees are applied (although they will still pay interest at 18.9 per cent) and once a year they are allowed six days to return to their agreed balance before fees are charged.
Kevin Mountford, head of banking at MoneySupermarket.com, said: "The fees and charges for using an overdraft range significantly between banks and building societies, so it is important to make sure you understand your account usage and don't pay over the odds for your borrowing."
Those who overdraw regularly might want to avoid Barclays' new Blue Rewards programme, which is designed to benefit those with several of the bank's products.
In exchange for a £3 monthly fee, current account holders who deposit at least £800 and have two or more direct debits receive a £7-a-month reward. On top of this £4 net incentive, those who have a Barclays mortgage get a further £5 and those with its home insurance are paid £3, giving a possible annual profit of £144.
However, Charlotte Nelson, finance expert at Moneyfacts.co.uk, pointed out: "There is a danger that if this account is not used wisely the overdraft could extinguish any gains. Not only will customers get charged for going into their overdraft, but they will also have already paid a £3 fee on top."
Barclays applies overdraft fees of up to £35 a month plus £8 a day for unpaid transactions. But even those who remain in credit could do better elsewhere, with an account that doesn't tie them to a particular bank's products.
Halifax's fee-free Reward account returns £5 a month to customers who deposit at least £750, pay out two direct debits and stay in the black.
Santander's 123, which costs £2 a month and requires a monthly pay-in of £500 and two direct debits, gives 1 to 3 per cent cashback on selected household bills. Customers who maintain a credit balance of £1,000 to £20,000 also receive up to 3 per cent interest.
According to the Payments Council, Halifax and Santander have been by far the most popular choices with switchers over the past year.
For those currently with Bank of Scotland, Halifax, RBS, Natwest, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander or Nationwide, a new comparison tool provided by Gocompare.com offers the quickest way to find the account best suited to individual spending and saving habits.
It makes use of a 12-month record of deposits, withdrawals and charges called "midata" created from statements and stored on your provider's website. Simply log into your account, download your file and drop it into the comparison tool.
The whole process, which doesn't pass on sensitive personal data, should take no more than a few seconds and you will be able to see the benefit or cost of switching to dozens of different accounts, spread over one to five years.
Matt Sanders, Gocompare.com's banking spokesman, said: "Only 8 per cent of people have switched banks in the past 12 months, and of those 44 per cent did so to take advantage of the incentives offered by a different bank.
"Clearly customers are being swayed by marketing messages, but with access to the tailored comparison we can provide, they can also decide what account is best for them once these incentives or introductory offers have passed too."
It is hoped other providers will allow customers access to their midata files in the near future.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article