Santander free forever bank account changes

RichardStevensons

WillPS said:

Interesting to note the "Free forever" claims absolutely front and centre 5 years in to Santander ownership.

And it carried over to Santander rebranding too:

Oh look.... 

Section62

boingy said:

The only thing I'm certain of is that Santander must be fairly confident that they have a stronger case for making the change now than they had in 2012 when they had to U-turn.
....

Or perhaps they calculated that the number of account holders had reduced enough that the negative publicity and/or potential ombudsman complaint cost was below whatever figure they had budgeted for.

Hopefully their initial calculation will turn out to be sufficiently far out that they decide to rethink the charges.

suef_3

Still live on the Santander website https://www.santander.co.uk/assets/s3fs-public/documents/corporate_social_responsibility_report_2005.pdf

 "Helping small businesses - Our ‘Free Business Banking’ commitment to small businesses, offering a bank account with free banking, and interest when the account is in credit continues to be popular. Particularly since we set no time limits and no minimum balance requirements."

MeteredOut

Everything I read still seems to link the free banking to the account, not the customer, and I suspect Santander's approach will be to double-down on the account no longer existing and therefore no breaking their T&Cs.

I doubt this will be resolved until the FOS gets involved. And if enough people take their complaint there, I can see it being a decision that is automatically applied to all customers with the account, not just those that take their case to the FOS.

ForumUser7

MeteredOut said:

Everything I read still seems to link the free banking to the account, not the customer, and I suspect Santander's approach will be to double-down on the account no longer existing and therefore no breaking their T&Cs.

I doubt this will be resolved until the FOS gets involved. And if enough people take their complaint there, I can see it being a decision that is automatically applied to all customers with the account, not just those that take their case to the FOS.

There will be lots of people who are affected by the changes that won't know to complain / won't know that you can complain / don't have time/capacity to complain. I didn't know that was a thing, but if it is then that's really good.

RichardStevensons

https://bmmagazine.co.uk/news/santander-drops-free-forever-business-banking/

LadyJaz

I too have received the same letter and have made a formal complaint for which I've had a number. I took out my account in the late 2000s and was guaranteed 'free business banking forever'. I wasn't aware this was account specific. I believed, and still do, that it was a pledge made to the customer, so would apply whatever they chose to call their business accounts. If this is not the case then it was not communicated to me properly, and had I been clearly informed of this in 2015 when they renamed their accounts, then I would have complained then. I therefore believe I have been deceived so they could break their promise of free banking. 

elnoog

Complaint lodged with Santander. Nice and easy on the phone (She said they're getting a lot of complaints) 

Next step Ombudsman once they respond to the complaint. Hopefully it will cost them enough money they'll u-turn!

Smurrfmo

Santander playing for time, saying it will be 8 weeks to provide a response to my complaint.  if they're so sure of their position it would take a day.  I will be on to the Ombudsman the second the 8 weeks are up and there is plenty of time to get this sorted before the deadline.  Why Santander chose to pick a fight with their customers like this is bizarre, especially after what happened last time.  I have had and have plenty of products with them, not only am I determined to see them honour their promise but I will be going elsewhere for everything else.

Smurrfmo

From the BusinessMatters article quoted above, hits the nail on the head:

While Santander insists it is acting within the terms of its account agreements, business owners and legal commentators are questioning whether a unilateral reclassification of accounts can override an explicit, written lifetime guarantee.

“The right to change an account type does not override or invalidate a specific and binding contractual promise,” the letter argues. “None of the [stated] exceptions — changes in law, regulation or tax — apply here” .

If regulators agree that the promise constituted a contractual assurance, Santander could face formal complaints and potential enforcement action. At the very least, it risks reputational damage at a time when trust in retail banking remains fragile.