Business & Financial

It is very hard to do anything in the UK without a bank account. Without a bank account, the very simplest of tasks become very complicated. Like it or not we are a society that has, for many of its most important transactions, dispensed with cash almost entirely; your employer will need, for instance, to pay your wages into a bank account, and paying your bills without a cheque book or debit card can be almost impossible.

So, we know that we have to use a bank account, but with the recent behaviour of many of our banks we may be feeling a little sheepish at the thought of having to choose between what often seems like a bad bunch. Choose we must however, and whether we are looking for our very first current account, deciding to switch to a different bank or opening a second or third account to spread our finances around, ‘just in case’, the truth is that despite recent issues, the UK does benefit from a great breadth of choose when one is looking to open an account.

We obviously don’t just want an account that will keep our money safe from moths and mice, pickpockets and burglars, and that provides us with ways to pay our bills, most of us are demanding enough to also want an accountant that gives us something back for the use of our hard earned cash, and plenty of those competing for our business are happy to do just that. Everything from cheap insurance to free cinema tickets are waved in front of us in the hope of grabbing our attention; in truth though, it is important not to let these baubles distract us from what we should be looking at and that is fees.

Most banks still offer fee-free current account facilities in the UK, but this does mean that they have to get that money from somewhere else, in fact it is probably truer to say that there is no such thing as truly fee-free banking in the UK as all banks will apply ‘charges’ to current accounts for everything from going over an overdraft limit to having a direct debit collection attempt made when your account has too little in it to pay out. Until recently most banks were making an absolute fortune in this manner; some still are; it is therefore very important to find out how much your prospective bank charges for administrative matters and compare, some will be higher than others.

In their rush to show just how great they can be, many banks are offering almost bespoke current accounts where one can pick and choose from a long list of services that may or may not be of use; gone are the days when you had to take what you were given and like it; austere black cheque books are being replaced by jazzy shades of pink and funky designs for the student market, which may not be of interest to all, but it is still true that the more choice a bank can offer you, the better; if you need excellent online facilities, but never use a cheque book, it helps that they can provide you with either/or.

Essentially today’s high street banking world is one of great choice and so it is important to make the most of this, don’t plump for the first one you find, shop around and get what you want before you commit to a choice.