MoneyExpert.com: HSBC current accounts

Sean Gardner, MoneyExpert.com, said: "HSBC's new interest-free current accounts are another blow for customers and hardly compensated by ubiquitous, low value features such as ID theft assistance.

"The worry is that this, along with others such as Barclays making similar moves, is the beginning of the end of free banking.

"But there are still a number of current accounts to be found from the likes of Alliance & Leicester and Lloyds TSB, which offer very good returns. For example, Lloyds TSB's new Vantage account offers higher rates of interest on balances over £5,000, whereas most limit their highest rates to balances of no more than £2,500."