Santander free forever bank account changes

Kestrel_Patrol

hencloud1 said:

Just made a complaint to the FO.

The main point is this... if they are now attempting to introduce fees to "free lifetime banking" then they sort to exploit customers. They also sort to gain customers away from other banks and they have had the beenfit of our banking for 20 odd years. Its not just the fees.

Please send in a complaint - they cannot be allowed to get away with what is essentially miss - selling.

So you enjoyed free banking for 20 odd years and now feel exploited because you didn't go to another bank which might have offerred you free banking for 12 months. I think that Santander should have handled this better and will recieve complaints as a result but what some are claiming is ridiculous. 

Smurrfmo

Kestrel_Patrol said:

hencloud1 said:

Just made a complaint to the FO.

The main point is this... if they are now attempting to introduce fees to "free lifetime banking" then they sort to exploit customers. They also sort to gain customers away from other banks and they have had the beenfit of our banking for 20 odd years. Its not just the fees.

Please send in a complaint - they cannot be allowed to get away with what is essentially miss - selling.

So you enjoyed free banking for 20 odd years and now feel exploited because you didn't go to another bank which might have offerred you free banking for 12 months. I think that Santander should have handled this better and will recieve complaints as a result but what some are claiming is ridiculous. 

No, they enjoyed what was promised to them as they were perfectly entitled to do, there is a big difference.  The question is if that promise still applies and time will tell on that.

solidpro

Kestrel_Patrol said:

So you enjoyed free banking for 20 odd years and now feel exploited because you didn't go to another bank which might have offerred you free banking for 12 months. I think that Santander should have handled this better and will recieve complaints as a result but what some are claiming is ridiculous. 

You obviously have a different definition of 'forever' to almost everyone else in the universe. 20 years is nowhere near 'forever'. Neither is 100. 

Enjoyed the benefit of 'free forever' and in return had a bunch of limitations, lower quality of service (free forever customers were not allowed to speak to a single human in a branch) and zero interest. You cannot suggest for one moment anyone was taking Santander for granted.

moto16

I'll just add my ten pence worth:

Been with Santander since 2003 and have never been overdrawn during that time, so the letter which arrived in early July 2025 advising they were introducing charges prompted me to open an new account with another bank and to use the automatic 'switching' service.

Without naming names, the application process for the new bank was very long winded and there was a lot of questions regarding the nature of my business, etc., but I was eventually offered an account and given an account number and sort code and a date when the switch would be completed. This is where it all started to go pear-shaped! Despite me being sent User ID's and passwords, I wasn't able to get access to my new account. It was a convoluted process, requiring two 'one time passwords' (OTP), one to my email address and another to my mobile 'phone via text message. No matter how many times I tried (with teal-time help from the bank via telephone), they were unable to send me any SMS messages with the necessary OTP.

I think their customer helpline called me back on three separate occasions saying it had been fixed, but each time it failed. The lady on the helpline admitted they were "having problems" sending SMS messages!

By this time I'd had enough, and was thinking "what if this happens when I'm actually trying to make a payment" at some point in the future? So I decided to close the new account/switch there and then.

At my basic rates, the time I wasted above would have paid for at least 10 years worth of Santander's £9.99 a month charges.

I will, however, be making a compliant to FOS regarding Santander.

fest0r

moto16 said:

I'll just add my ten pence worth:

Been with Santander since 2003 and have never been overdrawn during that time, so the letter which arrived in early July 2025 advising they were introducing charges prompted me to open an new account with another bank and to use the automatic 'switching' service.

Without naming names, the application process for the new bank was very long winded and there was a lot of questions regarding the nature of my business, etc., but I was eventually offered an account and given an account number and sort code and a date when the switch would be completed. This is where it all started to go pear-shaped! Despite me being sent User ID's and passwords, I wasn't able to get access to my new account. It was a convoluted process, requiring two 'one time passwords' (OTP), one to my email address and another to my mobile 'phone via text message. No matter how many times I tried (with teal-time help from the bank via telephone), they were unable to send me any SMS messages with the necessary OTP.

I think their customer helpline called me back on three separate occasions saying it had been fixed, but each time it failed. The lady on the helpline admitted they were "having problems" sending SMS messages!

By this time I'd had enough, and was thinking "what if this happens when I'm actually trying to make a payment" at some point in the future? So I decided to close the new account/switch there and then.

At my basic rates, the time I wasted above would have paid for at least 10 years worth of Santander's £9.99 a month charges.

I will, however, be making a compliant to FOS regarding Santander.

I would certainly be naming names then, so it helps others. I opened a new account with Monzo. It took around 5 minutes, including the verification process. I didn't use the switching service though.

I really like the app features and you can have favourite payees. They also don't have all the additional warning stages when making a payment, unlike Santander. They have a web option too if you don't like the app.

moto16

fest0r said:

I would certainly be naming names then, so it helps others. I opened a new account with Monzo. It took around 5 minutes, including the verification process. I didn't use the switching service though.

I really like the app features and you can have favourite payees. They also don't have all the additional warning stages when making a payment, unlike Santander. They have a web option too if you don't like the app.

It was the Co-Operative Business free banking account.

Judging by the time it took for someone to answer the helpline (~20-25 minutes on hold), they seems to be having a lot of issues!

Smurrfmo

FOS complaint has now gone in.  I'll await the outcome of that but ultimately I think this will be decided in the courts.

prowla

Kestrel_Patrol said:

hencloud1 said:

Just made a complaint to the FO.

The main point is this... if they are now attempting to introduce fees to "free lifetime banking" then they sort to exploit customers. They also sort to gain customers away from other banks and they have had the beenfit of our banking for 20 odd years. Its not just the fees.

Please send in a complaint - they cannot be allowed to get away with what is essentially miss - selling.

So you enjoyed free banking for 20 odd years and now feel exploited because you didn't go to another bank which might have offerred you free banking for 12 months. I think that Santander should have handled this better and will recieve complaints as a result but what some are claiming is ridiculous. 

20 odd years is not forever; the product was offered with the "forever" commitment.

Saying that "forever" doesn't mean ferever, is the only thing which is ridiculous.

They made a commitment and are trying to renege on it.

Smurrfmo

Reminder to anybody coming here for the first time.  If you have a Santander business bank account marketed as free forever and disagree with Santander that forever ends when it changes its mind then please make sure to take action by making a complaint to Santander.  Make sure you get a complaint reference number and complain to the Financial Ombudsman service when your complaint is rejected.  In doing so you will be helping to combat Santander's egregious behaviour in this case in trying to renege (for the second time!) from a longstanding copper fastened price promise.

Smurrfmo

Somebody posted this over on the Facebook group:

"My MP said this I am between appointments now but can confirm that representations have been made to Santander and the Department for Business and Trade. I will return your call shortly. The are looking into what regulations have been breached and told Santander to restore our accounts".