Business banking news review: week ending 16 Oct 2014
Personal and business bank account customers seem to be availing themselves of new and existing options in greater numbers than in the past.
When it comes to moving your money into places that will give you the best interest rates or provide better levels of customer service, in the past it was a bit of a nightmare to do so. However, now there are plenty of options for banking customers to do so – and it seems like Brits have gotten behind the idea of moving their money to greener pastures in a big way.
First up comes news that the new 7-day switching scheme seems to finally be catching on. While there are something like 45 million or so current accounts in the country, around 1.2 million current account holders have gone ahead and switched their banking providers in the first year of the scheme – and that represents a 22 per cent increase in switching activity for the year before.
Sure, it doesn’t sound like much in the grand scheme of things but it’s decidedly a start. The Payments Council says that visibility of the new switching scheme is high, as nearly 7 out of every 10 Brits is aware of the new ability – and the Treasury has come out in approval of the figures.
While that’s great news for current account holders, that leaves savers out in the cold. Banks have been taking the piss out of anyone with a savings account for years now, thanks to ultra-low rates of return, but now there’s at least some hope for pensioners that need to move around their retirement savings with a new private pension scheme that just went live.
Now, the over-55s can get more than just one hand into their pension pots if they want. Chancellor George Osborne announced that a new scheme now allows retired Brits to take out several lump sum withdrawals from their pensions to be used as they see fit – either for re-investing in better, higher-yield shares or property, provide themselves some debt relief, or even spend it on those that truly matter most: their children and grandchildren. Not only that, but any pension funds specifically left to be distributed to family members will no longer be taxed at its truly eye watering 55 per cent rate to boot – so yes, it’s something to celebrate if you ask me!