Santander free forever bank account changes

neilsedaka

GeoffTF said:

 Perhaps the FOS should order a refund of the monthly fees that you have been paying.

We have not been paying any monthly fees because the account in question is "business banking free forever".

RichardStevensons

eskbanker said:

I don't know when the promise was first made, or even if it predated Abbey's acquisition, but am sure that it would have continued under Santander's name too.  Still doesn't alter the point anyway - there's no evidence that I'm aware of that there was any attempt to deceive at the time of sale, whereas it's not difficult to see that the changes in 2015 had at least one eye on future charging....

GeoffTF said:

So what is your loss? Free banking for many years? The inconvenience of having to transfer your account to a bank that still offers free business accounts? Are you entitled to compensation because the bank has been sneaky and underhand? Perhaps they will argue that this is business account, not a personal account, and that if you are in business, you are expected to read the terms and conditions. Whatever their case, I expect that they have consulted some expensive lawyers.

@eskbanker - In our case, we opened ours in January 2010 - way way after the acquisition.  We opened the account with Santander, under Santander branding and there was no mention of Abbey whatsoever.

@GeoffTF - Our loss? ... This really isn’t about the £9.99 monthly charge, it’s about the cumulative consequences. The “Free for Life” commitment wasn’t just a headline offer, it fundamentally shaped how we approached our banking from a business and personal point of view:

 - We shaped our business financial processes around the lifetime guarantee, accepting the limitations (no counter service, postal cheque deposits, reduced interest ) that other banks didn’t impose.

 - We also actively discounted alternative banking products with other banks because the promise was clear, permanent, and written.

 - We didn’t just commit our business banking to Santander, we also committed our personal finances too. Out of loyalty and to keep everything “in one house”, we moved or opened (when the time came) our personal current accounts, mortgage, and even our children’s savings accounts with Santander.

Santander have made a good amount of money out of us based on this promise, and we’re not the only ones…

GeoffTF

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

 Perhaps the FOS should order a refund of the monthly fees that you have been paying.

We have not been paying any monthly fees because the account in question is "business banking free forever".

So you would get nothing.

GeoffTF

RichardStevensons said:

Our loss? ... This really isn’t about the £9.99 monthly charge, it’s about the cumulative consequences. The “Free for Life” commitment wasn’t just a headline offer, it fundamentally shaped how we approached our banking from a business and personal point of view:

 - We shaped our business financial processes around the lifetime guarantee, accepting the limitations (no counter service, postal cheque deposits, reduced interest ) that other banks didn’t impose.

 - We also actively discounted alternative banking products with other banks because the promise was clear, permanent, and written.

 - We didn’t just commit our business banking to Santander, we also committed our personal finances too. Out of loyalty and to keep everything “in one house”, we moved or opened (when the time came) our personal current accounts, mortgage, and even our children’s savings accounts with Santander.

Santander have made a good amount of money out of us based on this promise, and we’re not the only ones…

How much did it cost you to not use counter service postal cheque deposits and reduced interest? Do you have proof of that cost? I expect that the FOS would consider the other claims to be vacuous. You did not have to put other business with Santander. If you are making a compensation claim, you are expected to mitigate your loss. Your allowable loss cannot therefore be more than the additional cost of an alternative service whatever is included. If that alternative service includes counter service postal cheque deposits and reduced interest, you would have to subtract the money that you would have saved by using those from the additional cost of the alternative service.

neilsedaka

GeoffTF said:

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

 Perhaps the FOS should order a refund of the monthly fees that you have been paying.

We have not been paying any monthly fees because the account in question is "business banking free forever".

So you would get nothing.

The subject of this thread is "Santander free forever bank account changes", specifically the impending loss of the "free forever".

GeoffTF

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

 Perhaps the FOS should order a refund of the monthly fees that you have been paying.

We have not been paying any monthly fees because the account in question is "business banking free forever".

So you would get nothing.

The subject of this thread is "Santander free forever bank account changes", specifically the impending loss of the "free forever".

You have misunderstood what I was suggesting, which was that no compensation was due for the reasons that I gave. I joked by saying that the FOS might award the monthly fees that were paid, i.e. nothing. Perhaps I should have included a smiley.

Claiming compensation for being given a free account is laughable, as far as the past is concerned. As far as the future is concerned, people can switch to another free account. That account may not be free forever, but we have been told that FOS does not consider hypotheticals, and people can switch again anyway. Perhaps the FOS will award an inconvenience payment (£100 to £300 apparently).

Section62

GeoffTF said:

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

 Perhaps the FOS should order a refund of the monthly fees that you have been paying.

We have not been paying any monthly fees because the account in question is "business banking free forever".

So you would get nothing.

The subject of this thread is "Santander free forever bank account changes", specifically the impending loss of the "free forever".

You have misunderstood what I was suggesting, which was that no compensation was due for the reasons that I gave. I joked by saying that the FOS might award the monthly fees that were paid, i.e. nothing. Perhaps I should have included a smiley.

Claiming compensation for being given a free account is laughable, as far as the past is concerned. As far as the future is concerned, people can switch to another free account. That account may not be free forever, but we have been told that FOS does not consider hypotheticals, and people can switch again anyway. Perhaps the FOS will award an inconvenience payment (£100 to £300 apparently).

It was a hypothetical in 2015.  In 2025 the situation is real.

GeoffTF

Section62 said:

GeoffTF said:

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

neilsedaka said:

GeoffTF said:

 Perhaps the FOS should order a refund of the monthly fees that you have been paying.

We have not been paying any monthly fees because the account in question is "business banking free forever".

So you would get nothing.

The subject of this thread is "Santander free forever bank account changes", specifically the impending loss of the "free forever".

You have misunderstood what I was suggesting, which was that no compensation was due for the reasons that I gave. I joked by saying that the FOS might award the monthly fees that were paid, i.e. nothing. Perhaps I should have included a smiley.

Claiming compensation for being given a free account is laughable, as far as the past is concerned. As far as the future is concerned, people can switch to another free account. That account may not be free forever, but we have been told that FOS does not consider hypotheticals, and people can switch again anyway. Perhaps the FOS will award an inconvenience payment (£100 to £300 apparently).

It was a hypothetical in 2015.  In 2025 the situation is real.

If they switch to another free account it probably will not be free forever, but it could be (or at least free for the life of the business). Claiming that they will definitely have to move again is therefore hypothetical. That was true in 2025 and it is still true now. As I have said their new account introduces charges they could move again. They will only have to pay charges if there are no free accounts for them to move to. That is even more hypothetical.

tacpot12

I've opened my complaint with FOS, and wanted to make some comments on how the thread has moved on since I last posted on it. 

There is good mileage for politicians to call on Santander change their mind. Supporting small businesses is a service to the economy. Santander themselves recognised this in their Social Responsibility reports in the early 2010s. 

flickadee001 commented that they had never had an issue before now. I too have had no reason to contact Santander ever, except to complain, and mentioned this in my complaint to the FOS. 

Santander's decision is a major money-making opportunity for the FOS! The FOS might make representations to the FCA and government that might bring more pressure to bear.

I'd agree that closing accounts now is premature. 

It's difficult to see how Santander decided that was a good idea. The numbers of accounts involved, the fact that the accounts don't cost them any to service, the money that customers have on deposit and the risk to their reputation and future recommendations from customers make this seem a bonkers decision made by someone who doesn't have the first idea about Banking.

I've made the point in my complaint to the FOS that Santander had full knowledge of the promises that Abbey had made to its customers and it had agreed to be bound by those obligations when they bought the Abbey Business Banking business.

I also make the point that Santander are trying to get out of these obligations by the convoluted method of discontinuing the free account and offering to move me to a different account type.

I've no idea whether my complaint will be successful, but I will be moving my accounts and credit balance to another free banking service if Santander do start to charge me. 

eskbanker

tacpot12 said:

Santander's decision is a major money-making opportunity for the FOS!

FOS is a not-for-profit organisation - if revenues exceed costs they adjust case fees or levies accordingly.