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Lloyds TSB Current Account
Lloyds TSB
The origins of Lloyds Bank stretch back to 1765, in 1974 they became known as Lloyds Bank International (LBI) and LBI was itself merged into Lloyds Bank in 1986. In 1995 Lloyds Bank Group merged with TSB Group to form Lloyds TSB Group plc.
Lloyds TSB Current Account
Lloyds TSB offers a broad range of current accounts, as you?d expect from a major high street bank. Specialist accounts such as the Lloyds TSB student and Lloyds TSB graduate packages offer low cost options and plenty of incentives to join up. Lloyds TSB will help you to switch accounts from a different supplier, and even offers a cash incentive to switch and to recommend a friend.
The Lloyds TSB current account classic plus offers up to 4% AER. The actual interest rate depends on the amount you agree to pay in monthly and is only on up to the first £5,000 of balance. Even if you can only pay in less than £1,000 monthly you will still receive the benefits of a normal Lloyds TSB current account. To qualify you will will need to log onto your account online at least 3 times every 3 months. These include commission free travel money, a Visa debit card, easy transfer when you move your account to Lloyds either by banking online or by phone.
Summary
This is a fantastic offer from Lloyds TSB, get £50 when you open an account and you can earn 4.00% AER on your first £5000 balance in their Classic Plus current account - one of the best deals on the high street! All you need to do is pay in a minimum of £2000 per month and log onto internet banking at least 3 times every three months. Even if you pay in a minimum of £1,000 per month you still earn 4.00% AER/3.93 Gross. Other current account options to suit all budgets are available. Just take a look! See terms and conditions.
LloydsTSB Current Account
The origins of Lloyds Bank stretch back to 1765, in 1974 they became known as Lloyds Bank International (LBI) and LBI was itself merged into Lloyds Bank in 1986. In 1995 Lloyds Bank Group merged with TSB Group to form Lloyds TSB Group plc.
Lloyds TSB Current Account
Lloyds TSB offers a broad range of current accounts, as you?d expect from a major high street bank. Specialist accounts such as the Lloyds TSB student and Lloyds TSB graduate packages offer low cost options and plenty of incentives to join up. Lloyds TSB will help you to switch accounts from a different supplier, and even offers a cash incentive to switch and to recommend a friend.
The Lloyds TSB current account classic plus offers up to 4% AER. The actual interest rate depends on the amount you agree to pay in monthly and is only on up to the first £5,000 of balance. Even if you can only pay in less than £1,000 monthly you will still receive the benefits of a normal Lloyds TSB current account. To qualify you will will need to log onto your account online at least 3 times every 3 months. These include commission free travel money, a Visa debit card, easy transfer when you move your account to Lloyds either by banking online or by phone.
Summary
This is a fantastic offer from Lloyds TSB, get £50 when you open an account and you can earn 4.00% AER on your first £5000 balance in their Classic Plus current account - one of the best deals on the high street! All you need to do is pay in a minimum of £2000 per month and log onto internet banking at least 3 times every three months. Even if you pay in a minimum of £1,000 per month you still earn 4.00% AER/3.93 Gross. Other current account options to suit all budgets are available. Just take a look! See terms and conditions.
LloydsTSB Current Account
posted by Barbara Gordon at 10:06 AM
Lloyds TSB Current Account
5 Comments:
I have had a current account with Lloyds TSB since 1993 - only back in those days, it was just plain vanilla Lloyds Bank, before it merged with TSB (formerly Trustee Savings Bank) two years later and began the process of re-branding its branches and services. Before that time, I had banked with NatWest, as I liked their policy of not investing in South Africa during the apartheid era, unlike most other UK banks. However, my principles fell out of the window as a cash-strapped post-graduate student, as NatWest would not allow me to continue to hold a student account and it would have cost me a fortune to run a "normal" current account. So I switched to Lloyds, who offered not only a student account with generous overdraft, but also a cash incentive to open one. Result.
Later, I converted my student account to a proper "grown-up" current account. This has been re-named a number of times, and I now hold a "classic" account. This is your basic current account that provides free banking, a chequebook and VISA debit card. You can also exchange foreign currency free of commission (but built-in to the exchange rate, so not much of a perk).
Now, this classic account doesn't pay much interest. That's an understatement. In fact, it pays a (wait for it) staggering 0.1% gross interest (0.1% AER). I really should change my account! But, like so many other people, I have inertia to change. And this is what the banks rely on. It just seems a hassle to re-arrange all those standing orders and direct debits, and to change your bank details for employers and other accounts. But I have it "on my list" to do.
To be fair, Lloyds have recently introduced the "Classic Plus" account, which is very similar to the Classic account, but pays 3.93% gross interest on the first £5000 (4.0% AER). Unfortunately, I can't upgrade to it because you need to pay in at least £1000 per month, and I now only work very part-time (and have a separate account to my husband).
There is no monthly fee for having an overdraft with either account; you just pay interest on the amount overdrawn. I have always found it very easy to change my overdraft limit, either by phone or more recently online, and have never been turned down for an increase. However, this is an expensive way to borrow money, as the rate is currently 1.4% per month (18.2% EAR) for the Classic account, and slightly less for the Classic Plus. (Isn't it curious how they charge people with less money more?)
As well as these two standard current accounts, Lloyds offers a number of "added value" accounts, that is, current accounts with added benefits, for which you pay a monthly fee, starting at £7. This has always seemed strange to me, because the package of benefits, such as AA breakdown cover and mobile phone insurance, are not necessarily something you would buy anyway - so you are not really "saving" money. There is also a "premier banking" service (for which there is still a fee of course) for individuals earning in excess of £60k pa, but I have never used this either.
Likewise, Lloyds has a number of personal accounts tailored to specific circumstances - such as those for students, graduates and young people, and accounts which are interest-free and managed in accordance with Shariah law.
I mentioned above that the main reason that I have not yet changed my account is inertia. While this is true, at the beginning it was also because I had opened my account in my small hometown, and kept my account there when I moved away to work. This meant that I could still ring my branch and receive a very personal service, from people who knew exactly who I was. However, in recent years, this personal touch has been removed. Customers now have to ring on an 0845 number the Lloyds TSB "customer contact centre", based somewhere in India. On most occasions this hasn't been too much of a problem, but when I have had a complex issue to discuss, I have found it difficult to get to speak to the right person, and the time-delay effect makes it difficult to be understood. During the last conversation that I had though, I was told that if I register for phone banking, I would be able to speak to my branch again (although why I should have to register for something that I have been doing for the last ten out of twelve years is beyond me).
One good thing that has been introduced is Internet banking. Once you have registered, this enables you to access your account 24/7 - a very convenient way to manage your account and pay bills, set up or cancel standing orders and direct debits, and transfer money between accounts. I regularly move money around, as my hobby is making money from 0% credit card deals. However, I have discovered a slight limitation with my Lloyds account, which is that you can only transfer £10,000 per day. This is a security measure, but it is a little inconvenient for me, as I sometimes move larger amounts (when paying off credit cards just before the interest kicks in). I had a very busy day recently trying to overcome this limitation to pay off my Egg credit card; I was told one thing by the customer contact centre, another thing at my local Lloyds branch, and, on their advice, also visited Egg's bank, HSBC, to try to arrange an alternative means of electronic transfer, but found that Egg do not accept this alternative means. In the end, despite being told that it could not be done, lo and behold Lloyds did manage to find the back-end "over-ride switch" and the transfer was successfully made. But I was exhausted. You should also note that there are disclaimers all over the Lloyds website regarding any charges that you may become liable for if, for some reason, a payment you request doesn't go through.
If you want to be old-fashioned and actually visit a branch, Lloyds claims to be one of the biggest banking networks in the UK with over 1,900 branches and 32,000 LINK cash machines. The bank does not charge you for using a Lloyds branded cash machine, or another LINK machine, but there may be charges from the owner of the machine, in which case you get an on-screen warning. You can also use any non-LINK machine displaying the VISA sign, but there is a 1.5% charge of the amount withdrawn for this. Perhaps I am the only one who thinks this is a bit steep?
Lloyds offer other services such as credit cards, insurance and mortgages (through their subsidiary, Cheltenham & Gloucester) although I have not found these particularly competitive so far.
I've been a current account holder with Lloyds TSB since 1986, except then it was just TSB or Trustee Savings Bank (as was it's full name). What I liked about TSB even back then was that fact that it was online real-time banking, i.e. if you made a deposit anywhere in the UK at another branch of TSB it would show up on your account instantly, whereas as far as I'm aware back then, other banks wouldn't show the deposit amount on your account till a few days later. Also, for example, if you paid in a cheque from another TSB customer, it would be deducted from their account there and then and show in your account as "cleared funds" (i.e. available to withdraw immediately), unless of course the person who gave you the cheque didn't have enough money to support the cheque in their accounts.
I currently have a "Select Account" which costs me £7 a month (this went up recently from £5 a month). It's a fairly good deal if you use the facilities provided with the account, which in this case include:
* Everything you get in the Classic Plus account plus:
* Mobile phone insurance
* Sentinel credit card protection
* AA breakdown cover
* Savings on package holidays
* Up to £50 interest free overdraft
* Up to 25% off new and used cars
* Commission free travel money
* VISA debit card
* (and a few other not so exciting benefits)
If you open a new Select Account with Lloyds TSB I think they give you several months free so you can try out the account to see how it suits you.
I've also got a Platinum VISA credit card which, as I said earlier, I pay off every month, so as to avoid paying interest.
Recently I was also offered a Lloyds TSB American Express card which I'm still thinking about?
I've also got an Online Saver account which I opened with the minimum required £250 deposit last year some time and which currently pays a healthy Gross interest rate of 4.55% p.a. and an AER of 4.30% p.a. If you open this as a new account, I think you get a higher rate of interest for the first few months. I opened this account online through internet banking and the account was open within minutes. Talking of Internet Banking?
What a wonderful invention! I started using Internet Banking 3 or 4 years ago (or whenever it first started) and it's absolutely brilliant. I'm one of those people who hates queuing up in banks to pay bills, change standing orders, transfer money between accounts, etc. So when Internet Banking came about, I was one of the first to jump on the bandwagon, prior to that I'd used Phone Banking for several years and was quite happy with that but with Internet Banking it was an even more convenient way to manage my accounts and pay bills, set up standing orders, cancel standing orders or direct debits, transfer money between accounts, set up new accounts, change dates of payments or payment amounts for standing orders, etc. I recently applied for a loan online thinking it would save me the hassle of going into a branch to make an appointment and then taking time off work to make the appointment, etc. Guess what? I applied for the loan online, filled in all the necessary details that you would fill in on a loan application and the money was in my account within five minutes of me starting the process. I was stunned!!! That is what I call convenient banking. That is what I call banking to suit my needs and that is why I'm happy to stay with Lloyds TSB as a customer.
It's very difficult to rate a bank out of 10 when it's really been the only current account one has had since being an adult. If pushed, I'd say I give my bank 9 out of 10 - it only loses one point because they're always advertising for new customers offering them cash incentives to open a new account and I feel rather jealous that I don't get offered a cash incentive to stay a customer - how silly am I?
I know people think it's cool to slate their banks and credit card companies for late fees and high charges, but honestly, if you use your Lloyds TSB account responsibly (hoping not to sound too preachy here) you will get the benefit of good banking and taking advantage of 30 days interest free credit when you pay your credit card bills in full and/or earning interest on your current account.
Thank you for reading this far? I hope this review has been useful to anyone considering opening an account with Lloyds TSB.
We have a Lloyds TSB account and had a fee free period (6months) for the Gold Account. This period ended last month, so at the beginning of this month we were charged £10 as account fees. We immediately contacted our branch asking them to revert to a normal account (i.e. non fee charging). We didn't have a refund for our money, but yesterday they decided to charge us another £10 as account fees!!!!
Would they charge us just to swith the account?
No. Gold Service account important information :
Cancellation wording
When you use the account we will take that as your agreement to the terms including the right to request repayment of overdrafts in full on demand. You can cancel the contract for you Gold Service account at any time, but if you do so, you must return any money you owe to us. If you use an overdraft facility before you cancel, we won't charge you for its use unless we have agreed an overdraft with you in excess of the £100 interest free overdraft facility available on the account. In this event, you will be made aware of the interest rate for the overdraft at the time that we agree to offer you that facility. If you'd like to cancel you can do this by visiting any branch or writing to your branch. Our contract will continue to apply if you don't cancel.
Thanks for that Barbara.
I am still at a loss though...we have never been overdrawn! We don't owe them any money.
OK, now I do have an explanation...Just spoke to lloyds as I was writting the above.
They charge the account fees in arrears, so what I paid at the beginning of the month was for last month and the £10 I am paying now is for part of this month, prior to cancelation.
Still think its a rip off!
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