MSE News: Bank Charges slashed by RBS/Natwest

Toe-Jam

It is a welcomed step, however it is hardly fair charging even at this point, it just brings them in line with the rest of the banks who charge around £30, using your debit card and accidently going overdrawn is still going to cost £35 which is what most other banks charge anyway.

a £20 charge for going 1p over and then the £15 charge for a guarenteed card payment.

this is a welcome reduction from the £63 it used it cost.

rwilliams_2

If you live in an area covered by a Credit Union, enquire if they have a "cuca" service. This is much the same as your standard high street bank account, but instead of majorly high charges for bouncing direct debits/going overdrawn, they offer the service on a weekly charge basis (ie Bristol Credit Union charges 1.20 per week for weeks where transactions occur from mon-sun plus charges for bounced Direct Debits are currently at 6 pounds). For those who are financially struggling at the moment with bank charges (funding nice bonuses to bank fat cats) this may work out the better option.

To get a "CUCA - Credit Union Current Account" you must be a member of that particular Credit Union to apply (usually the Credit Union has a 'common bond' which links it's members by areas they live in or work in etc). When you deal with staff at Credit Unions they understand that there is a person behind on the voice on the phone, unlike many banks, and will endeavour to help you with top class customer service.

I have been using the CUCA since February and am really pleased with it. While all of the high street banks refused me a current account with a debit facility, Bristol Credit Union were able to arrange it for me within 7 days. I receive regular statements and am not stung paying massive charges if I happen to go overdrawn or bounce a direct debit. Even better, if I do happen to go overdrawn I can ask them to transfer some of my savings into the account to cover it, and I would not be charged at all.

I can set up standing orders, direct debits, regular payments in/out and one-off transfers to other accounts. What I find most handy is that I can view the balance and transactions of my Credit Union 'share accounts', my BCU loan balance and transactions and my CUCA balance online. This enables me to keep on top of every aspect of my finances now. Even my daughters Child Trust Fund is with them at a very competitive 3.5% interest.

I like the ethic behind Credit Unions. They strive do to for the average member of the public, what the banks cannot. They have become a very viable alternative.

My money is safe in the hands of the Credit Union, not many banks can offer me that peace of mind.

rwilliams_2

Sorry I also may have put this message in the wrong place! lol
Apologies

stclair

esmerellda wrote: »

EXCELLENT NEWS

Now have seen the actual terms i can take cynical cap off


NEW RBS-NATWEST CHARGES
Bounced cheque, direct debit or standing order - £5, down from £38
Payment on overdrawn account - £15, down from £30
Guaranteed card payment fee - £15, down from £35
Maintenance charge - £20, down from £28
Overdraft interest rate - reduced to 19.24%

These are the detials of the new fees etc.

http://www.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/g3/reduced-overdraft-charges.ashx

http://www.rbs.co.uk/personal/current-accounts/g4/overdraft-pricing.ashx

esmerellda

Thank you been keeping an eye for that all afternoon

esmerellda

Regarding Credit Unions - the only issue i have with them is their accessibility to people who don't live in towns/cities. Otherwise I think they are fantastic and would switch tmw if I knew how.

masmit

esmerellda wrote: »

EXCELLENT NEWS

Now have seen the actual terms i can take cynical cap off


NEW RBS-NATWEST CHARGES
Bounced cheque, direct debit or standing order - £5, down from £38
Payment on overdrawn account - £15, down from £30
Guaranteed card payment fee - £15, down from £35
Maintenance charge - £20, down from £28
Overdraft interest rate - reduced to 19.24%

The word actual term is mentioned, but no mention of actual cost's.
Actual costs for these transactions is what the case is all about.
Honestly do you still think £20 + £15 for a payment on an overdrawn account or a card payment fee is the actual cost & there's no profit in these charges for the banks, very unlikely.
This is to make you think their being fair & (to get the hounds from chasing the fox so to speak)
When they lose the appeal these charges will be reset to supposedly fair charges, so for me an actual breakdown of costs is required to know if they are fair or not.
They have yet to release these actual costs to date WHY IS THAT PROFIT OF COURSE.

esmerellda

The OFT I suspect already have the 'actual costs' ready for their assessment of fairness (which they have already indicated to the banks that they consider them unfair at the original level - they are waiting on the legalities that they CAN assess for fairnes under UTCCR - if they can't do it under UTCCR they have indicated that they will do similar through the competition rules)

CHANGEyourMP

RBS/NATWEST have always had the most expensive set of bank charges due to there account maintenance charge, all they have done is come more into line with existing charges by other banks, but have used these so called reductions to try and grab some headlines!:mad:

kidcat

Previously Natwest charged only upto a maximum (it used to be £90 but not sure whether that was increased recently) amount per month, which equalled three bounced standing order/ direct debit charges. Will they now decrease the maximum charge or leave it at the high rate?