Smile & Co-op Bank changes to Ts & Cs

Mr_Crunch

Just a warning. Both Smile and Co-op have just sent out changes to current account Terms & Conditions, and if you plough through them you will eventually find this:

Extra wording
If you do not make any transactions on your current account for six months then we may treat your account as inactive. This means we will stop sending statements and letters about your account. Once we have treated your account as inactive, you will not be able to access any funds you may have had in the account until you have made contact with us. Please call us on 08457 212 212 or send us an encrypted (secure) message for further advice. At that stage it will be necessary for you to satisfy our standard security requirements.

So if like us you have retained an account with them for convenience rather closing it (it's a pain to open a new one with any bank), ensure that you transfer something into and out of it within every 6 month period. I think that they are legally obliged to write and inform before an account is deemed 'inactive' but better safe than sorry.

They used to be a good bank but this sort of change should be upfront, not buried.

Nada666

I'd say the including the word 'current' rather than 'savings' in the name is inherently reasonably upfront!

1jim

Have also seen a change to the charges for overdraft facilities.
It appears to say there will be a £20 charge for arranging overdraft facility
"Formal overdraft service charge
When we have agreed or renewed, or we or you have requested a change to a formal limit above £500 in advance†.(all products except smile student accounts"

Them it says,
† For the first 12 months from account opening you will have an agreed overdraft limit of £500. This is a special offer and is subject to our right to withdraw it for new customers or in accordance with account terms and conditions in the future.

Now on my account, I have always had a £500 overdraft facility since opening, have had the account for over 10 years perhaps up to 15 years, have maybe used once when an unexpected debit occurred and that lasted a day...so we use it as a buffer of sorts, just gets renewed every year and have never paid a fee for it.
Am I reading it correctly that this facility will now incurr a £20 a year fee unless it's within the first year of account opening?

anamenottaken

1jim wrote: »

Have also seen a change to the charges for overdraft facilities.
It appears to say there will be a £20 charge for arranging overdraft facility
"Formal overdraft service charge
When we have agreed or renewed, or we or you have requested a change to a formal limit above £500 in advance†.(all products except smile student accounts"

Them it says,
† For the first 12 months from account opening you will have an agreed overdraft limit of £500. This is a special offer and is subject to our right to withdraw it for new customers or in accordance with account terms and conditions in the future.

Now on my account, I have always had a £500 overdraft facility since opening, have had the account for over 10 years perhaps up to 15 years, have maybe used once when an unexpected debit occurred and that lasted a day...so we use it as a buffer of sorts, just gets renewed every year and have never paid a fee for it.
Am I reading it correctly that this facility will now incurr a £20 a year fee unless it's within the first year of account opening?

If you have accurately written what it says about the fee (and I've no reason to doubt you), that seems to apply only where the overdraft is above £500. As yours is £500 and not £500.01, I don't see a fee being charged.

1jim

Yep, i see what you are saying and think thats right, It's the next bit marked + that makes me wonder about this though as you would wonder why they need to add that bit about the first 12months if it doesn't directly relate to the charges