Tesco Bank launches first current account
Tesco Bank is today launching its first current account. The account has been designed after listening to more than 20,000 customers, and includes all the key features that matter most to them.
Tesco Bank has been wholly owned by Tesco since December 2008 and now serves 6 million customers in the UK. The launch of the current account means that Tesco Bank now offers a full range of retail banking and insurance products.
Independent consumer finance websites, Defaqto and Moneyfacts, have both given the current account a ‘5 star’ rating. The key features include:
Rewards for customers when they spend, and rewards for customers when they don’t
Clubcard points on debit card spend wherever you use your card – both in and out of Tesco
3% AER variable interest on credit balances up to £3,000
Modern and convenient
A mobile banking app with innovative features that helps customers manage their money everyday Online banking
‘Contactless’ Visa Debit card which doubles as a Clubcard
UK based customer service centres open 24 hours a day, seven days a week
The ability to make deposits at over 300 Tesco stores
Transparent
Simple and transparent fees and charges
£5 monthly fee if customers deposit less than £750 per month. No monthly fee for customers who deposit more than £750 per month
Free ‘overdraft control’ feature to make managing the account easier
Automatic text and email alerts and extended grace period to help customers avoid unarranged transactions fees
Customers can apply to open an account online from Tuesday 10th June (tescobank.com/current-accounts/) with 24/7 support available from Tesco Bank’s UK based call centres. To ensure switching is simple and hassle free, Tesco Bank is a member of the Payments Council’s 7-day switching guarantee service.
Benny Higgins, Chief Executive Officer, Tesco Bank said: “In designing our current account we have listened to more than 20,000 customers to understand what they want. And the account we are launching today offers all the features they told us mattered most. There are no gimmicks; - just a simple, rewarding, modern, convenient current account, designed for Tesco customers, by Tesco customers.”
Philip Clarke, Chief Executive Officer, Tesco, said: “Customers have told us that in banking they want Tesco to deliver in the same way we do for millions of customers across the UK every day. They want us to focus on what we do best – offering customers quality products they can trust, providing great service, making things simple and transparent and rewarding them for their loyalty. We’ve taken all these ingredients and used them to help create our first Tesco Bank current account.”
Sylvia Waycott, Editor, Moneyfacts, said: “At last a current account that plays fair regardless of whether you are in credit or overdrawn, which is great news as many of us fall into both categories from time to time.”
Andrew Hagger, Moneycomms.co.uk, said: “Increased banking activity in 2014 means customers now have a wider choice of current account options and those looking for long term rewards and credit interest returns will no doubt be attracted to the Tesco Bank proposition.
It's also good to see that Tesco hasn't gone down the route of charging daily fees for overdrafts as this can prove an expensive style of tariff, particularly for those only in the red by two or three hundred pounds.
With 7 day switching well and truly bedded in, there's no longer an excuse to stick with your bank if it doesn't deliver and that's something that Tesco Bank and fellow challengers are looking to exploit.”