Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

[Legal Beagles]

Nationwide and Royal Bank of Scotland today became the latest lenders to announce they would be passing on the full 1.5% cut in interest rates to variable rate (SVR) mortgage customers.
From December 1 customers with RBS and NatWest, which RBS owns, will see the banks' standard variable rates cut to 5.19%.
At the same time, Nationwide will reduce its base mortgage rate to 4.69%
Customers with rates linked to the SVR will see their repayments fall in line with the 1.5% cut.
Many of the major lenders are still reviewing their rates following yesterday's shock interest rate cut, with just Lloyds TSB, Scottish Widows bank and Abbey so far announcing they would pass on the cut.
More details soon …

• Mortgages
• Property
• Banks and building societies

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[natweststaffmember]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

We have also pulled the tracker rates, NatWest One, and Offset mortgage product for new and existing customers. We live in strange times.

[Main man]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

Hi to all,

I don't know why this is but The One Account (variable rate) which is owned by the RBS Group has still not passed on any reduction from the latest interest rate cut?

Despite all the media reports that RBS have cut rates, in reality, this is not the true story!

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

Interest rate cut effective 1st December 2008(it wasn't immediate cut btw)

The decision to cut the bank base rate was made within a few days of the BoE decision.

[Main man]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

Hi,

Don't know why but despite ringing several times since the interest rate cut I have been informed that no decision as yet hes been made?

Rang Friday same recorded answer telling customers that the decision is still under review and will be notified in due course?

Have emailed MP tonight to ask the question why they are dragging their heels.

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

Apologies Main Man, but the One account is Virgin so not RBS Group. Sorry for the misinformation there. We have NatWest One so I have got that wrong.

[Main man]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

It did belong to Virgin but RBS took it over in 2003/4........... even the customer representatives claim it is separate from any RBS decisions but still belongs to the RBS Group?

Hopefully my MP will be asking why.

Regards

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

It did belong to Virgin but RBS took it over in 2003/4........... even the customer representatives claim it is separate from any RBS decisions but still belongs to the RBS Group?

Hopefully my MP will be asking why.

Regards

Main man, ignore my previous post. AFAIK it will go down by the 1.5% from December 1st.

[malocao]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

Main man, ignore my previous post. AFAIK it will go down by the 1.5% from December 1st.

GD, thank you, but how far do you actually know? I'm about to fire in a complaint to One Account, but if this cut is defo coming I'll save the stamp for when I write to close the a/c

Cheers

[Lucia]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

I also have a One Account and will be putting in a complaint if it doesn't happen soon. Who do we complain to though?

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

I was wrong on this because they have only passed on 1% rate cut and not the 1.5% rate cut. Disgraceful.

[Main man]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

More negative media about The One Accounts failure to pass on the full 1.5% BOE base rate cut to customers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2...st-time-buyers

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

RBS faces backlash over refusal to give One customers full rate cuts

• Rupert Jones
• The Guardian, Thursday December 4 2008
• Article history

One of Royal Bank of Scotland's mortgage divisions has come under fire after refusing to pass on last month's interest rate cut in full, despite having "promised" to follow Bank of England base rate moves.
The decision has prompted an outcry among customers.
Holders of mortgages in the One account, formerly a joint venture with Sir Richard Branson's Virgin empire but now 100% owned by RBS, are worried they will also not see the full benefit of today's likely rate cut. Dozens of people have joined a Facebook protest group including Rowan Gormley, the former boss of Virgin Direct who developed the One account concept.
RBS and NatWest last month said standard variable rate (SVR) mortgages would be cut by the "full 1.5%" after the Bank of England base rate was cut from 4.5% to 3% on November 6. But One account customers have been told they are only getting a one percentage point cut.
Angry customers point out the gap between the base rate and One account rate has increased by a percentage point in the past year. Against a backdrop of falling interest rates, they were hit with a quarter-point rise in July. The Guardian has obtained a copy of a letter sent out by the division in May 2001, which states: "Our promise is that we'll follow the base rate and pass the benefits of interest rate cuts on to our customers straightaway."
Tony Wood, the former marketing director of Virgin Direct who is a One account customer, said RBS's behaviour was "a betrayal of all the principles we built the One account on in the first place". He added: "It's interesting to see how, as a majority taxpayer-owned business, they can even contemplate going back on such clear-cut promises, which was one of the main reasons for customers signing up in the first place. It makes particularly interesting reading in the context of the Financial Services Authority's 'treating customers fairly' rules."
Dozens of disgruntled mortgage holders have joined the Facebook group, said Wood, who now works as a brand and communications consultant.
RBS's decision to treat One account customers differently is potentially embarrassing because, when the division was half-owned by Virgin it made great play of how it passed on every rate cut to customers in full within 24 hours of each Bank of England announcement. In 1999, the then managing director of Virgin One, as it was called, said: "We have passed on every rate cut in full on the same day because that is how our customers expect to be treated - fairly and honestly."
RBS, which bought out Branson's stake in 2001, said: "The One account mortgage is a variable rate product and not linked to base rate or the RBS and NatWest SVR. The decision to cut flexible rates by one percentage point follows consideration of a range of factors such as the wider market environment, including the sustained increase in the cost of funding variable rate mortgages."
A spokeswoman said One account holders had benefited from a half-point cut effective last month. "The cumulative effect means this mortgage remains competitive. This movement is in line with the product terms and conditions," she said
Article source: is the link from Main Man.

[Main man]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

This is an interesting letter that has been posted over on MSE, where it seems the One Account promise to follow the BOE base and pass on any interest rate reductions to customers.

Oh how times have changed!

http://www.gripplespider.com/OneAcco...k-promise.html

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Nationwide and RBS pass on rate cut

The article in the Guardian follows that perfectly including Tony Wood. He was part of the team that set up the Virgin One account. This story will rumble on and on, I think.