Don’t Pay For Banking

A report by researcher Defaqto has revealed that banks are heavily marketing fee-based accounts, which don’t necessarily provide the customer any useful advantages.

Whilst some of these accounts offer higher than normal interest rates, it is still possible tofind better interest rates on free accounts elsewhere.

This is just one of the 32 benefits the reports found, with the average paid for account offering around 11 such benefits. The other benefits on offer included free travel insurance, breakdown cover, shopping discounts, will writing services and access to airport lounges.

Fees on these accounts start at around £3 per month, topping off at £ 25 per month and averaged £1.27 per benefit. Some of these accounts did waiver the fees if the monthly deposits exceeded certain thresholds.

Whereas some of these benefits could be seen as useful, others were seen to be just tying the customer into more of the bank’s services.

15/9/2008 (filed under banking)

September
16th More Premium Bond Winners

November
21st October Sales Increase
12th Stamp Duty Holiday Failed
7th 2% Off House Prices

October
20th Sell Your Home, For Free!
14th House Prices Still Have Another 10% Drop
8th Mortgage Rates Cut
8th Coordinated Rate Cuts
2nd Northern Rock Swamped By Savers
2nd Biggest House Price Fall Yet

September
30th Irish Banks 100% Safe
29th Power Giants ’Ripped Off’ Customers
29th Santander To Buy B&B Savings
29th Lloyds Fixed Rates Increased
28th B&B To Be Nationalised
26th More Banks Raise Cost Of Borrowing
26th Rate Cut On The Horizon
26th House Prices Fall £45 Per Day
25th Post Office Savings Safe To £80k
23rd Straw Attacks No-Win No-Fee System
22nd London Asking Prices On The Up
18th Oil Down 40%, Petrol Up
11th Barrat Helping House Prices
10th OPEC Forces Fuel Price Up
9th House Prices Could Drop 25%
9th Credit Cards Soon To Be Extinct
7th House Prices Will Not Lift Until 2010
7th Brown’s Triumph - a £50 a Year Fuel Levy
6th Oil Slips, Petrol Sticks
5th Sterling 30 month low
5th Energy Profits Up
4th No Interest Rate Change
4th Halifax - Worst House Price Drop Ever
4th No Change To European Interest Rates
3rd Rampant Inflation Curbs Hopes of Rate Cut
3rd Britain Only Leading Country In Recession
2nd Tories Would All But Scrap Inheritance Tax
2nd Stamp Duty Threshold Raised, For Now

August
28th Biggest House Price Fall For 18 Years
27th Landlords Struggle to Pay Their Debts
26th Fixed rate mortgages rates drop
22nd Halifax Closing A Quarter of Branches
22nd Bank Must Cut Interest Rates
21st Interest Rates Could Be Cut
19th Fastest ever increase in rentals
18th BCC Wants Interest Rates Cut
16th Repossession orders up by 24% on last year
13th Rate cuts unlikely
7th Bank Holds Rates

July
23rd August Interest Rate Rises?
14th Cheaper Extended Mortgages - Cost More Eventually
10th House prices fall £3,600
10th Interest Rates on Hold
7th Interest Rates - Which Way Now?
4th Mortgages harder to come by