Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

[natweststaffmember]

I have very good information that HBOS are introducing fee based banking from February. This will exclude existing customers for now.
More information later as I get it.
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
A few further details that I can give.

as of Jan HBoS normal bank accounts are being discontinued
customers will have a reward account
no credit interest ever
£5 payment if they pay in over 1000
£1 per day if they are overdrawn
£5 per day if they are overdrawn unauthorised
£2 per day if they are overdrawn by more than 2500

no bank charges for anything else

customer who have bank accounts already will remain unchanged

with the exception of money back customers
who by the way tend to be those who are always overdrawn
there being converted to the reward account

the ultimate reward account will still be available and the card cash

That is the information I have available. HBoS are going to announce this soon.......(but I got some advance notice)

[Legal Beagles]

HBOS to change most bank accounts

Millions of customers with the Halifax and Bank of Scotland will see big changes to their current accounts in the New Year.

More...

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

BBC NEWS | Business | HBOS to change most bank accounts

Sometimes and exclusive comes to here first

[Budgie]

Re: HBOS to change most bank accounts

HBOS to change most bank accounts


Overdraft fees will be simpler but not necessarily cheaper

Millions of customers with the Halifax and Bank of Scotland will see big changes to their current accounts in the New Year.
The standard set of overdraft fees, including interest charges, will be replaced by daily fees of £1, £2 or £5 when people are in the red.
The charges will start with the launch of a new account on 9 February 2009.
But most existing accounts will be moved to the new charging structure later in the year.
The changes are a response to last July's critical report by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) into the operation of personal current accounts.
The report said that the way they worked was complex and opaque, with many customers not knowing how much they were likely to be charged in interest and overdraft fees.
"It will reward good behaviour and is really simple and easy to understand" said a Halifax spokesman abut the new charging structure.
He denied it was part of any preparation by the bank in case it, along with seven other lenders, eventually lost their current High Court test case on the fairness of overdraft charges.
"This is nothing to do with the High Court bank charges case," he stressed.
"This is still free in-credit banking - you can still pay nothing and get £5 per month after tax," he added.
The changes
The new account, dubbed the "Reward" account, will abolish the current interest charges for people in the red.
Also disappearing will be the existing overdraft fee of £28 per month, and the maximum three charges a day of £35 each for paying or bouncing cheques, or making other payments, while in the red without permission.
Instead, customers with an arranged overdraft of up to £2,500 will pay £1 per day; those with a higher arranged overdraft will be charged £2 per day; and anyone with an unarranged overdraft will have to pay £5 per day.
The new account will also be credited with a standard after-tax interest payment of £5 per month, regardless of how much is in the account, so long as at least £1,000 a month has been paid in by the account holder, and regardless of whether the account then goes into the red or not.
Transition
As part of the transition process, the Halifax will move people who still operate its now closed "Moneyback" account to the new format in February.
It will also close its ordinary and high interest current accounts to new applicants.
Its new account, alongside its more elaborate "Ultimate Reward" account, which comes with a £12.50 a month fee, will become the standard offering.
The bank's student and basic accounts will still be available and, for the time being, will not be included in the changes.
But the "Ultimate reward" account will also feature the new overdraft charges in due course, and Halifax customers will be able to switch their existing ordinary and high interest accounts to the new set-up if they wish.

[pinknico]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

Now reported in Daily Mail online x

[natweststaffmember]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

Halifax to scrap interest charges on new current accounts | Mail Online
LINK

[Budgie]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

Halifax to scrap interest charges on new current accounts


By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 6:23 PM on 12th December 2008

• Comments (0)
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Halifax today announced plans to abandon paying or charging interest on current accounts taken out by new customers.
From February 9 the group is replacing its existing current accounts with the new Halifax Reward Current Account which will have a new fee structure.

Instead of receiving interest on in credit balances, customers with one of the accounts will be paid a flat sum of £5 a month after tax, regardless of whether or not they are in credit, as long as they pay in at least £1,000 a month.

Halifax said it will introduce a new current account in order to simplify its existing fee structure
The group will also no longer charge interest on authorised and unauthorised overdrafts or unauthorised overdraft fees.

Customers with an authorised overdraft of up to £2,500 will play £1 a day, rising to £2 for people with an overdraft of more than £2,500.

People who go overdrawn without first clearing it with the bank, or who breach their agreed overdraft limit, will be charged £5 a day.

This compares with an unauthorised overdraft charge of £28 a month for the Halifax High Interest Current Account, with fees for paid and unpaid items of £35 each, subject to a maximum of three a day.

Halifax said it would write to people as soon as they exceeded their arranged limit, and again every seven days that they remained in unauthorised overdraft.

The group said the new-style account aimed to simplify its existing fee structure and provide an even better deal for customers.

It denied that it had anything to do with the current High Court test case on unauthorised overdraft charges.
The account will be available to new and existing customers, but new customers will no longer be able to open one of the group's existing current accounts following the launch, apart from its student account and basic bank account.

However, people will still have the option of opening a packaged account, which will offer a range of benefits, such as breakdown cover and travel insurance, in exchange for paying a fee of £12.50 a month.

The new packaged account will be called the Ultimate Reward Current Account and will pay 2.5 per cent credit interest.

The group plans to move all of its current accounts to a daily charging structure for overdrafts during 2009, while people with a Moneyback Current Account will be automatically transferred to the new one following its launch.

[Smasher]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

They won't give up will they..
If anyone was hoping for a fairer system, well I guess this is it! Same sh**, different shape..

[Amethyst]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

Its all getting very complicated isnt it. So much for standardisation so people can compare accounts easily. Am trying to write a post with all the updates of all the charges on current accounts across the banks and god knows how you are meant to work out which is best value.

[enaid]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

I thought too that they were supposed to make all the new T&C's etc fairer and more understandable, perhaps they have for themselves.
I'm afraid it will have to be put in a lot simpler terms for me to grasp.
If you havent cleared it first, you could be charged £5 a day, well that is great lol
It doesn't say what they will charge for writing to you as soon as you go over and then every 7 days after, they won't do that for nothing imo.

[Smasher]

Re: Breaking news: Fee based banking coming soon

The only way this could be acceptable is if there was a compulsory opt-out option. Otherwise the charging regimes are even worse than before..