notice on changes to interest rates

emh_2

Are banks & bulding societies supposed to give you notice of their changes in interest rates?

Egg have told me they are dropping theirs soon, but will tell us and give us 30 days notice before they change.

I got cut off from Nationwide 3 times this morning when i asked this question. :mad:
One person finally told me, that they will tell us of their change around the 1st december and they will be effective from then. No notice at all!

Would this be in their terms and conditions?

Baldur

See the Banking Code, Section 4 - http://www.bankingcode.org.uk/pdfdocs/PERSONAL_CODE_2008.PDF

Milarky

They only have to give notice within 30 days after the change. Website information need not be updated for 3 working days after the change either. Some banks take full advantage of that - like Lloyds - which sometimes leads to confusion when there are back to back changes on base rate and the 'notice' comes through at about the same time but actually refers to the previous month's changes...

Some are quite good and give a week or more of advanced notice - like ING. It's perfectly practical for all banks to do much better on average at informing customers of changes therefore. They just don't like to do it because others can hold back from doing so, for longer, of course - sowing doubt in our minds.

The Banking Code is the 'lowest common demoninator' - or lowest 'legal' standard - agreed by the banks in a way that harms none of them. It remains to be seen whether the proposed FSA regulation of the Banking Code Standard Borard (BCSB) from next November will lead to any tightening of control in the interest of the consumer - but initial indications are that it will change nothing and the new 'regulated' Banking Code will be as lightweight as the current version.