Santander rewards customers with preferential overdraft charges

Before the end of the year, and following the integration of Alliance & Leicester, Santander is launching a current account with a new overdraft fee structure for those customers who use Santander as their main bank.   The new current account will have a competitive daily fee structure, which research shows customers prefer because they feel it is more transparent.  

The move is in line with Santander's stated intention to reward loyalty and it complements the unique Santander Zero Current Account launched in January 2010.

The Zero account already has the lowest fees in the market with no overdraft fees and fee-free overseas ATM and point-of-sale transactions.  It is available to anyone who has their main banking relationship with Santander and holds a Santander mortgage or investment product.  With 40 million adults in the UK with at least one current account, we estimate the Santander Zero Current Account is now available to over 22 million consumers.

Going forward, Santander will offer this new current account with lower fees to any customer who holds their main current account with Santander.   In order to benefit customers must deposit £1000 per month into the account.

Any customer who does not have their main current account with Santander and wants to take advantage of this new current account will be able to do so, by switching to use Santander for their everyday banking needs.

For those customers who hold a current account with Santander but do not use it as their main account, Santander is reviewing the overdraft tariffs for these accounts.   It expects to contact customers in the third quarter of 2010 to inform them of any changes we propose, as when we complete the integration of Alliance & Leicester into Santander we will have one set of products with one unarranged overdraft fee structure.  

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, Director of Banking, Santander UK, said: "Santander is committed to offering its customers great value current accounts and rewarding those that choose us as their main financial provider.   To this end we are offering these customers a preferential overdraft tariff, demonstrating yet again that the more our customers do business with us - the more we will reward them.  The overdraft fee structure on the new account is simple to understand and transparent."