Savings Account Small Print
June 7th, 2006 | POSTED BY ROB
Talking about Lombard Direct’s recent decision to savagely cut the interest rate on their savings account, The Motley Fool points out the gaping holes in the Banking Code, which makes the cuts above board, if not entirely fair:
Section 4.6: “…at least once a year, we will send you a summary of… current interest rates, unless your account has less than £500 in it.”
Section 4.8: “If you have a variable-rate account with £250 or more in it and the interest rate has fallen significantly compared to the Bank of England base rate, we will contact you within a reasonable period of time…”
Lombard Direct has cut up to 3.67% a year off some of their savings accounts, which in some cases means the interest paid is now just over a tenth of what it used to be. The lesson here, as ever, is to check the deal you are getting, and then start looking at the best buy tables. Don’t be loyal to banks that are taking your custom for granted.
1 Comment on “Savings Account Small Print”
Bank Closes “Charge Rebels’” Accounts / Personal finance and money information, tips and links / Money Watch, June 8th, 2006 at 3:52 pm
[...] The recent rulings by the Office of Fair Trading and the subsequent campaign by Which? has meant a big rise in the number of people claiming back charges on their account, and so this is something we may well see more of in the coming months. According to the Banking Code (read about some of the holes in the Banking Code), Alliance & Leicester are well within their rights to do this. What the customers themselves will now think is unknown. [...]