BANK ACCOUNTS

Two thirds of consumers could earn more interest

A new study suggests that most British consumers don’t actually know what their current rate of interest on their bank account is. This could mean they are losing up to £148 a year in interest.

A lack of knowledge and basic information when it comes to the products available could be costing millions in Britain.

New research, commissioned by Lloyds TSB, reveals how current account holders are not taking advantage of the high interest accounts available, with 64% of them not even realising what their current rate of interest is.

This ignorance is making them lose an average of £148 on an annual basis, or £444 over a three year period.

This trend, however, does not mean that British customers like to waste money. In fact, 42% of them said they would be motivated to switch to an account paying a better rate of interest.

Furthermore, of those that would switch to a better interest rate, four out of five are motivated by long term rates.

"Most people have a current account yet not everybody is aware of the earning power that exists,” said Jatin Patel, Current Account Director at Lloyds TSB.

“Interest earning current accounts such as the Lloyds TSB Vantage can help consumers make their money go further and earn up to 3% with minimal effort."

The consequence of apathy

In addition to this research, a another recent poll from a leading comparison site concluded that over half of the British population is wasting money in paying for benefits they don’t even use.

Although 40% of British bank customers are paying for their current bank accounts, only 53% of them make use of the full package of benefits that come with the accounts.

Furthermore, 35% admitted to never using the additional benefits or only using the overdraft facility.

This means that they could be paying extra for their current account and not taking full advantage of the benefits. Some 13% of packaged account holders weren't even sure of the benefits they were entitled to.

Tags: bank account benefits, bank account interest, BANK ACCOUNTS, Banking, compare bank accounts, earn interest on bank accounts, interest rates