MSE News: Santander to charge for 'free' business accounts

Justdesserts

Victor_Mildrew wrote: »

Could you please post the link for the 2009 advert. Ta

I used the links posted by opinions4u at about page 7. You may need to do a fair bit of clicking to get to the date you need.

Sorry but as a new poster, I am not being permitted to post links at present :cool:

DruidDonagh

Justdesserts wrote: »

It may stand to reason, DruidDonah, but not in law. The acquiring company takes over any existing liabilities.

We need to stand together on this

And is able to change them as per T&C and that is what is is happening. So Santander is staying within the law. Their T&C actually states that the fees can change. Even free banking is a fee. In this case the fee is £0,- You may not like it, but it is their legal right to do so

16.1 We can change these Conditions and the Specific Conditions:
a) to conform with or anticipate any changes in law,
Codes of Practice or recommendations of the
Financial Services Authority or any other appropriate
regulatory authority;
b) to provide for the introduction of new or improved
systems, methods of operation, services or facilities;
c) to take account of a decision by a Court, Ombudsman,
Regulator or similar body;
d) to reflect general banking practice;
e) to make them clearer or more favourable to you;
f) to ensure that our business is run prudently;
g) to rectify any mistake that might be discovered in due
course; or
h) for any valid reason not stated in these Conditions.
16.2 If we change the Conditions, we will give you:
a) at least 2 months personal notice of any change to
a Condition or fee that relates to any withdrawal or
payment service on your account; or
b) at least 30 days personal notice of a change to any
other Condition or fee that is to your disadvantage and
your account is a Payment Account; or.
c) a reasonable period of notice of a change to any other
Condition or fee that is to your disadvantage and your
account is not a Payment Account.
d) Otherwise we will give you notice within 30 days of
making that change by one or more of the following
methods: personally or by displaying a notice in the 19
national press, in our branches, or on our website.
If we put a notice in the press, we will use two
national newspapers.
e) For overdrafts, we will give you no less than 30 days
personal notice if:
(i) We change a condition that relates to
an overdraft;
(ii) We increase an overdraft fee or introduce a new
overdraft fee.
however, we do not need to notify you if any overdraft
fee is reduced. Please see our Interest Rates and Fees
Information for details of our current overdraft fees.
16.3 Condition 16 does not apply to a change to any interest
rate or exchange rate.

opinions4u

Their T&C actually states that the fees can change. Even free banking is a fee. In this case the fee is £0,- You may not like it, but it is their legal right to do so

The advertising will, in my unqualified opinion, form part of the terms and conditions.

Legally.

The FSA should step in. But won't. The FOS will uphold complaints. In time. But not all will be eligible to use the FOS.

Santander should simply have withdrawn the account from sale but leave it open for existing customers, gradually making it less appealing in other ways. 0870 phone numbers. Removal of prepaid envelopes. Bigger charges for other services.

swordsman1

bundly wrote: »

I have not yet received official letter from Santander that I am to be charged for my account. Yet others have. Why is this?

I've not received a letter either.

My company is semi-dormant and I have a very low transaction level with a healthy balance, so I'm probably the type of customer they might want to keep. Maybe that's why? I dunno, but if they charge £90pa I certainly won't be hanging around.

Victor_Mildrew

swordsman1 wrote: »

I've not received a letter either.

My company is semi-dormant and I have a very low transaction level with a healthy balance, so I'm probably the type of customer they might want to keep. Maybe that's why? I dunno, but if they charge £90pa I certainly won't be hanging around.

I haven't received my letter yet, but I still went ahead with my complaints based on what I read on this forum. Also my acct is very active with about 30 deposits a week (some cash some cheques) the balance never exceeds £2000 (often a lot less) & I tend to clear it "once a month" but they still benefit from the seven days (5 working days) they take to clear cheques I pay in (7 days interest???).

DruidDonagh

opinions4u wrote: »

The advertising will, in my unqualified opinion, form part of the terms and conditions.

Legally.

Which can be changed.

Legally.

BusinessIsBusiness

__________

BusinessIsBusiness

janusdesign wrote: »

:rotfl:
they've been sending me monthly statements for dormant accounts for years... and I bet i've got more of them than Santander will receive complaints about this.

Why spend time complaining about something as trivial as this. Instead why not spend that time to write a letter to close the dormant account with the correct account numbers? If you previously asked them to close a current account, they only close the specific accounts you specify, so would leave others, such as a savings account, open, unless you instruct them otherwise..

Justdesserts

BusinessIsBusiness wrote: »

Why spend time complaining about something as trivial as this. Instead why not spend that time to write a letter to close the dormant account with the correct account numbers? If you previously asked them to close a current account, they only close the specific accounts you specify, so would leave others, such as a savings account, open, unless you instruct them otherwise..

You would have thought so, but when I asked thenm to close a dormant account, they also closed another and cancelled my cashcard!!!

madonnamustache

Hi all,

Very disappointed with what Santander is doing. It may be legal, but it's not honest and trustworthy - especially considering the fact that banks are blamed on the financial crisis. How much money is enough for them?

I have been looking at other banks, but really not sure what to go with. HSBC seemed good - until I saw that they charge £6 for incoming bank payments from abroad. So the sender pays, and the recipient pays. With Santander, this was free. Sometimes I receive 3-4 such payments a month, and that would be £24 in fees. Apart from that, I mostly use my business bank account to deposit PayPal and Google Wallet payments, with almost no cheques or cash deposits. So I am reconsidering going with HSBC.

Annoyed.