Millions of current account customers with NatWest and RBS face new charges of £72 a year plus interest simply for dipping more than £10 into their arranged overdrafts. From July, the state-backed bank will force its current account customers to pay the extra charges on top of the interest of 19.89 per cent. In a further blow, interest will kick in after you go more than £10 into the red instead of the current £100. The only way of avoiding these charges is to pay up to £24 a month for a packaged account with the bank. Student and graduate accounts will also be exempt from these charges. Campaign group Which? says that if you dip into an authorised overdraft of £250 for two weeks a month, you would see costs rise from £21.60 a year to £93.60. A spokesman says: ‘These new charges are a significant increase for those who dip into their authorised overdraft and will make it harder for people to compare the cost of running their account with other banks.....Read more here
Millions of customers with NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) face new fees of up to £72 a year from this week for dipping into their arranged overdrafts.
From Friday, current account customers with the state-backed bank will be charged a £6 a month "arranged overdraft usage fee" when they go over £10 into the red - on top of existing annual interest of 19.89pc. The rule changes also mean that the interest-free "buffer" which customers have on their arranged overdrafts will be shaved from £100 to £10. The move, announced in April, brings the bank into line with other big high street names, including Lloyds TSB, Santander and Halifax. Select and Select Silver customers with arranged overdrafts will be affected by the NatWest/RBS changes. These customer numbers are understood to be in the low millions, although not all of these people use their overdraft. Student and graduate accounts will not be affected by the charges, nor will some paid-for "packaged" accounts such as the bank's Select Platinum Account, Advantage and Royalties Gold Accounts and Black Account......Read more here