Current Accounts

Alliance & Leicester Current Accounts has scooped double honours in the prestigious annual Moneyfacts Awards, winning both the Best Current Account Provider (Credit Interest) and Best Current Account Provider (Debit Interest).

Customers are winning from the banks' current account wars - but too many are still receiving pitiable rates for staying in credit, according to new analysis by MoneyExpert.com.

Emma Walkley, Current Account Manager at Alliance & Leicester comments on the recent change to the Lloyds TSB's Plus Account: "The penny seems to have finally dropped. This rate increase for Lloyds TSB's Plus current account customers is a sign that at least one of the Big Banks is starting to recognise the importance of giving something back to customers.

Sean Gardner, founder of MoneyExpert.com, said: "Reducing a £35 fee to a £22 fee is a welcome but hardly earth-shattering move by Barclays, particularly if you can still theoretically incur multiple fees over a short period of time.

In November 2007, Lloyds TSB was the first high street bank to overhaul its approach to overdrafts with the focus on helping customers keep on top of their finances and avoid slipping into the red.

Kevin Mountford, head of current accounts at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said: "Barclays says its new current account will cause a stampede of applications, but it's far more likely to be nothing more than a damp squib.

Barclays is responding to customer feedback by overhauling its current account offering, replacing the unauthorised overdraft with a fundamentally new approach to overdrawn accounts, which significantly reduces the charges for customers who go beyond their agreed overdraft limit.

On 10 April the Bank of England announced a 0.25% cut in interest rates. Since that time the current account market has seen plenty of rate changes but some lenders have used the opportunity to tweak their rates by more than the 0.25% cut.

Ignorance and disinterest are costing Britons dear when it comes to earning extra interest by banking with the most competitive current account providers.

Alliance & Leicester's Premier 21 current account for 16 to 21 year olds is still offering a market-leading rate of 10% AER, a year on from its launch. This is despite the Bank of England Base Rate of interest being cut three times during the same time period.

Alliance & Leicester has announced that it is extending the 8.5% AER credit interest offer on both its Premier Direct and Premier 50 current accounts.

Britons are failing to take advantage of the superior service of traditional private banks because they over-estimate the minimum investment level required to become a customer, according to new research issued today by Cater Allen Private Bank.

Commenting on the launch of the Co-op's new Current Account Plus, Kevin Mountford, head of current accounts at moneysupermarket.com, said: "The current account market hasn't seen many new products of late, so it's a refreshing change to see this offering from the Co-op bank.

The Co-operative Bank, voted number one on the high street for customer satisfaction levels in two recent consumer surveys from Watchdog and Which?, is launching a new Current Account Plus with a linked savings account.

With the London Marathon only days away, many people will be glued to their screens this Sunday to watch around 37,000 runners pound the pavements.