Savings Banks

Bank watchdogs predict a flood of compensation claims after a law student Stephen Hone sued Abbey National for 'excessive' charges.

Stephen won his case after arguing overdrawn charges of £32 were unfair, compared to the costs to the bank.

He was also charged £2,000 for bounced direct debits. Abbey failed to file a defence at Plymouth court.

Yorkshire Building Society has launched a new one-year variable rate savings bond.

The new bond will pay a high rate of 5.00% gross / AER and guarantees to always pay 0.25% above the Bank of England base rate. The bond also offers a monthly interest option for those investors who want an income from their savings.

The high interest bond is available to all savers as it requires a minimum balance of just £100 and additional deposits can be made to the account at anytime.

Tanya Jackson from the Society, said: "The variable rate bond is a great way for all levels of savers to get a fantastic rate of interest which is guaranteed to remain above the Bank of England base rate. Often high interest accounts such as this are limited to those with a lot of money to invest."

Bank Account Plus from HSBC is a packaged current account aimed at travellers. For an initial charge of £9.95 a month (rising to £12.95 in 2006) customers receive a number of benifits including free worldwide family travel insurance (age restrictions apply), hotel discounts and commission free currency and travellers cheques.

The free price protection insurance that HSBC is providing to its current account customers helps to ensure you get the best possible deal on your purchases.

If you discover the same branded goods for at least £10 less within a two month period, you can claim the price differnce.

Internet purchases and special offers are not covered.

Hilary Osborne - Guardian
Friday June 17, 2005

A third of British women are financially independent, and almost a quarter earn at least as much as their partner, according to research published today by Marks & Spencer Money.
The M&S financial decision makers report compares women's finances today with those 20 years ago. It reveals a 47% increase in the number of women who are in full-time employment or own a wide range of savings and investments, with 7.2 million women now in this position.

In 1985, just 7% of women earned the same or more as their partner, but the figure now stands at 23%.

Yorkshire Building Society has issued a new savings account designed to give older clients peace of mind.

In response to recent research, the Yorkshire is now offering the Access Saver for Pensioners account, providing a passbook and the security of in-branch transacting.

The survey found that some 60 per cent of older customers would rather deal with human cashiers than cash machines, while one in four refused to use ATMs as they felt insecure taking money out in public places.

Chris Edwards, head of savings at the Yorkshire, said: "It is a very sad sign of the times that so many of our older citizens feel unsafe on our high streets. We have launched this account because we want our customers to feel as safe and secure as possible at all times."

The Bradford & Bingley new Mini Cash ISA offers the convenience of instant online access to your savings as well as a great tax free interest rate.

Click here for more details.

West Bromwich building society has launched a new bonus tracker account for savers.

Customers will be able to take advantage of the new variable rate offer from June 9th.

The Premier Bonus Tracker Account is available now online at www.westbrom.co.uk, by phone and post from June 19th and from West Bromwich branches from June 15th 2005.

The new account will track changes in the Bank of England base rate reverting to a Direct Tracker Savers product.

The minimum investment is £1,000 for new and existing customers and the maximum is £150,000 for both joint and single investors. Additional investments can be made at any time after the offer period and up to six withdrawals are allowed each account year.

INTEREST rates on children’s savings accounts – some of the most heavily marketed of all savings products – can leave kids badly out of pocket, online financial data service Moneynet warns today.

In some cases, the difference in rates can be several per cent (see below), meaning that over a period of years – the accounts are typically held for the longer term – the end savings pot can vary significantly.

“High Street lenders are particularly aggressive when it comes to promoting their kids accounts as they hope to retain the business as the child turns into an adult,

Sylvia Morris, Daily Mail
9 June 2005

BANKS and building societies are busy wooing us with new accounts paying top rates of interest.

But savers need to look behind the headline rates to see what hoops they have to jump through to earn the rate and for how long it will last.

Last week's launch from the Co-op Bank came as a breath of fresh air. The High Interest Tracker is a plain vanilla, easy access account which you can run through the branch, the post, over the telephone or internet.

The rate of interest at 3.6% after 20% savings tax (4.5% before tax) is a cracking one for the High Street, even if the minimum is high at £5,000, and it comes with a guarantee that you will earn no less than 0.25% below base rate - currently 4.75%. Keep a balance of £5,000 in the account for a year, and you get an extra 0.5% before tax.