Details of the new bank accounts offered by the Post Office have been confirmed
The Post Office has announced the details of its three new current accounts, available from today.
Standard, Packaged and Control will be available in 29 branches in East Anglia initially before a nationwide rollout planned for 2014.
So let’s take a look at what each of them can offer.
Standard Account
The Standard Account is a straight up current account that offers free everyday banking as long as you stay in credit.
You can open an account with £100 and manage it online, over the phone or in a branch.
Account holders will be able to arrange an overdraft at any time but unarranged overdrafts don't incur a fee. Overdrafts will be charged at the normal rate of 14.9% EAR.
Packaged Account
Next up is the Packaged Account which offers additional benefits for a fee of £8.
You can get European multi-trip family travel insurance as well as breakdown cover.
The Rescue Plus breakdown cover is provided by Green Flag and covers any you in any vehicle which is less than 16 years old. The benefit includes home as well as road side assistance.
In addition the £8 fee gets you identity theft protection which includes a service to monitor your credit profile and alert you of any unusual activity.
You will also be able to get a 7.5% discount on holidays and travel with the Post Office Travel Booking Service.
Like the Standard Account you will be able to get a debit card and chequebook as well as an overdraft charged at 14.9% EAR .
Control Account
[SPOTLIGHT]The third option available from the Post Office is a basic bank account for those that are new to banking, on lower incomes or those who have had difficulty with default bank charges in the past.
For a fee of £5 a month Control customers will be protected from charges for unpaid payments that usually cost £15 with the other two accounts. The Post Office said those that are new to banking incur charges of £140 on average which the Control account can save.
This basic bank account offers bank, telephone and online banking as well as ATM access and the ability to set up Direct Debits and standing orders. But you won’t be able to get a chequebook or overdraft facility with the account.
The Post Office says Control could save customers between £125 and £215 by giving these customers the ability to switch utility payments to Direct Debit.
You can open a Control account with just £20.
What’s missing?
Back in April when the Post Office announced it would be launching its own banks accounts all we knew was that the accounts would focus on simplicity, transparency and good value for money.
And it seems that’s what we have got. The charges are up-front and simple, while the Packaged Account option is priced competitively.
But for some the accounts might be lacking a few features that could have made it compete with the big retail banks, like offering in-credit interest or perhaps free cash withdrawals abroad.
The Nationwide FlexDirect Current Account for example pays out 5% on balances up to £2,500, while the Santander 123 account pays out up to 3% on balances up to £20,000 as well as paying cashback on household spending.
The accounts are also free of gimmicks like switching incentives, but with around three million existing customers and a massive network of 11,500 branches across the UK - which is more than all the high street banks combined - the Post Office won’t be short of people wanting to test the new accounts out.
The current accounts on offer will only be available in certain branches in East Anglia, but the Post Office plans to extend its reach in the future. If you want to be kept up to speed on the latest developments you can register your interest here.
What do you think?
Will you be signing up for an account with the Post Office?
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