MSE News: Lloyds TSB to come clean on savings rates 29 June 2010 at 3:34PM in Savings & investments 10 replies 2.2K views

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"The bank will publish rates on statements so consumers know when interest dives, in a victory for MSE's savings campaign ..."

Read the full story:

Lloyds TSB to come clean on savings rates

pKaTz

Hopefully other Banks will do the same too.
It is often hard to keep up with the current interest rates.
I'm sure that many people will be in for a shock - mainly those who have saved with them for most of their lives.

HouseHuntr

And you'll still get lazy people coming on here whinging and complaining that they didn't know it changed because they can't be bothered to read what's in front of them!

vaporate

And so banks should!

It is obvious that banks try and screw customers where they can. Which is wrong.

ChiefGrasscutter

All of which means that for us who DO keep up with the rate changes we will now see lower rates in general.

This is because in effect those who are "lazy" in moving their accounts to better paying ones are subsidising those who do. So the more that move their money the more the banks will have to pay out in interest and hence they will not be able to afford to offer such "high" rates.

vaporate

high rates?lol Yeh right.

Since when it ever was? £2000 in a bank and only earn £3 barely each month. Hardly 'interest'. No other accounts pay much better.

Arthurian

ChiefGrasscutter wrote: »

All of which means that for us who DO keep up with the rate changes we will now see lower rates in general.

This is because in effect those who are "lazy" in moving their accounts to better paying ones are subsidising those who do. So the more that move their money the more the banks will have to pay out in interest and hence they will not be able to afford to offer such "high" rates.

Absolutely agree. Wealth is relative. The playing field has been levelled out, but that does mean it's more difficult for those diligent MSE savers who were willing to strive to be one jump ahead.

Joe_Bloggs

Halifax used to publish the relevant interest rate when you viewed your account details via the web. This was pulled a few months ago.

Some statements are only issued once per year so it can be expensive to be told what pittance your rate was twelve months after the fact.

Those with alleged knowledge claimed the Halifax change was because of a new joint Lloyds-Halifax computer system. Some sceptics thought that this mushroom treatment was all about making more money from ignorant savers. Clearly Lloyds are holding Halifax back in being open and informative if the Halifax will follow Lloyds in early 2012.
J_B.

misterfish

Joe_Bloggs wrote: »

Halifax used to publish the relevant interest rate when you viewed your account details via the web. This was pulled a few months ago.

Some statements are only issued once per year so it can be expensive to be told what pittance your rate was twelve months after the fact.

Those with alleged knowledge claimed the Halifax change was because of a new joint Lloyds-Halifax computer system. Some sceptics thought that this mushroom treatment was all about making more money from ignorant savers. Clearly Lloyds are holding Halifax back in being open and informative if the Halifax will follow Lloyds in early 2012.
J_B.

We found this changed just after transferring money to Halifax ISAs. I was told that the information was removed to (as far as I can remember) stop customers getting confused by too much information on the screen.

Misterfish

ultrawomble

Isn't this a bit of a non-story given that these changes were on the cards from the FSA last year?

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/pages/Library/Communication/PR/2009/146.shtml

Advance notification of changes
Banks and building societies must provide advance notice of changes to key terms and conditions. For current and instant access accounts, they will have to give customers at least two months’ prior notice of any disadvantageous interest rate changes (except if the account explicitly ‘tracks’ a reference rate; e.g. 2% above the Bank of England Base Rate or the change is an explicit part of the contract).

Also, see Section 4.2 of this British Bankers' Association document where 14 day period is mentioned:

http://www.bba.org.uk/content/1/c6/01/70/36/BCOBS%20Industry%20Guidance.pdf

In other words, you might not have to wait for a yearly statement to be informed that the interest rate might go down.

opticyclic

Does it also apply to online banking details though?
I have an e-Saving account, which according to the website saving rates page saying it is 2.3% including a 12 month bonus of 1.3% (which has probably now passed for me).

However, I spoke to a representative on the phone today and she said I was earning 2.5% interest on my e-Saving account?!
I also spoke to another one a couple of months ago who said the same thing.

However, another representative (just 5 mins later) said that my account is now earning 0.1%!!!

According to the rates page, the minimum I would expect to be getting is 1% (2.3-1.3).

The info needs to be on the account summary page online so that you can check. I shouldn't have to try and work out what the rate is myself.


On a plus note - a newly opened AA saving account shows the percentage when you log in, which is good. :T