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‘NatWest – yet another way’

June 1, 2009 at 4:11 pm

Banking and saving when you were a child seemed so simple. You had one account and each week, you paid your one pound of pocket money into it and you saved. It was so easy. Fast forward to adulthood and you are now expected to decipher what seems like a million different solutions to problems you probably never realised you had. We must now compare, contrast and see through various different accounts, special offers and, heaven forbid, financial products.

You need to be clear on what you want, and this is not as easy as it sounds. If you are after a simple second account into which you can put savings, then it seems that you would require a simple solution. This will of course not stop your bank from offering you some alternatives.

Popular schemes include the default e-savings account which most banks now offer, and of course, cash ISAs which all banks offer and by now you will be pretty familiar with these. E-savings are popular because they operate almost as a second current account with a few limited stipulations attached. Nice and straightforward, but the low rate of interest receivable may put you off.

With the current interest rate at its lowest in recent history, it is easy to think that there is absolutely no point in saving whatsoever. Sometimes, simplest is best and if you are planning on using your savings account for rare contributions, but often need to siphon off cash from it to get you out of a mess, then you may be better with just a straightforward secondary account. It will pay next to no interest, but then you will only be receiving peanuts on a proper savings account anyway. For example, you are likely to receive around £42 a year for a full allowance of £3000 invested into a NatWest ISA. This sounds reasonable, but if you wish to receive payments into your account from family members abroad, for example, then this is not possible as a direct transaction.

This is one reason why you may choose not to go for some fancy savings package and just keep it “old school.” With a second account, you will also get a helpful debit card, which a savings account will not give you.

It is perhaps surprising to be treated like an important customer these days when one is seeking to open an account that will offer almost nothing to the issuing bank. NatWest Leamington Spa were most helpful and even offered tea and coffee to customers who were early for appointments. It is this level of customer satisfaction that will keep customers coming back when times become less challenging and money is available once more. Perhaps this is something that parent company RBS could learn from them also.

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