Lloyds Bank announces charging changes

Lloyds Bank, the majority taxpayer owned financial giant, has today announced a range of charging changes which will impact customers in the short to medium term. The bank will scrap the £15 "unplanned overdraft fee" in December 2010 and replace this with a basic £5 "overdraft usage fee" for customers who slip into the red, whether planned or unplanned. The "returned item fee" will also be reduced from £20 to £10 and customers will be able to access a fee free and an interest free overdraft.

However, on the downside Lloyds Bank has announced it will cease to pay interest on ordinary current accounts although premium accounts packages will still attract relatively low interest rates. Whether or not interest on current accounts is reintroduced when UK base rates move higher in the future remains to be seen although it would be a surprise to see a return to the "old days".

Whether or not Lloyds Bank is leading the UK financial arena down a different charging structure path remains to be seen but the chances are when one of the major players moves in one direction the rest will follow at some stage. So who will be next?