Package current accounts rubbished
Current accounts that offer a range of extra benefits at a premium have been blasted by Alliance & Leicester.
The special package accounts cost up to £200 per annum for the privilege of extra services such as interest free overdrafts, breakdown cover and discounts from various shops and services.
Over six millions Brits subscribe for these accounts, while research shows that fewer than 40 per cent actually use the extra benefits, which cost on average £130 a year.
Additionally, Alliance & Leicester points out that packaged accounts also tend to offer low interst rates on poisitve balances and charge high rates on credit purchases.
'It seems packaged accounts' popularity can be attributed to the 'emperor's new clothes' effect,' said Simon Ripton, current account manager at Alliance & Leicester.
'There is a real danger that banking customers are encouraged to take out the latest packaged account offering whether or not it is right for them and whether or not the benefits offered as part of the account will be of any use to them. We urge packaged account customers to question whether the £130 most of them pay out each year is really worth it,' Mr Ripton concluded. | 
