Lloyds TSB has just announced a new current account, called the Vantage. The account offers tiered rates of interest and is open to both existing and new customers.
There are no fees associated with the day to day running of the Lloyds TSB Vantage account and all customers need to do is pay at least GBP1,000 per month into the account and make sure it stays in credit. Interest rates are worked out on a daily basis and the rate determined is applied to the whole amount held.
The interest rates offered, go from 0.1 percent for the lowest amounts held up to a maximum rate of 5 percent where a balance is GBP5,000 or more. A Lloyds TSB spokesperson said that the tiered structure had been applied to reward customers and show them it was worth keeping their money in the account.
Sainsburys Bank has determined that cost of a two day trip to Moscow to watch the UEFA Champions League final between Manchester United and Chelsea will cost each supporter an average of GBP624. This is without a flight, which would add greatly to the total.
Over GBP300 of this will be spent on the hotel room, with meals, transfers and sundry expenses taking up the rest. The total spend for adds up to around GBP40 million says Sainsburys Bank, which is a lot of money to put into Russian coffers.
Good advice from Sainsburys Bank is to shop around for the best rate on currency since it can make a real difference. They also recommend combining a good rate with good quality service to get the best overall package.
Representatives from Virgin Money have been discussing the potential purchase of troubled Northern Rock, they being part of a larger consortium.
The plan, if accepted, will be to make an initial GBP 11 billion payment, via commercial debt providers, and then put in a further GBP 1.3 billion for fresh capital investment. At the moment Northern Rock appear to accept the proposal put before them although there are questions over the longer term risk that taxpayers would face on the outstanding debt position.
The government will no doubt acknowledge this risk but it will be mitigated in some way by the interest rate they will earn on it, bringing extra revenue in to cover the risk, to a certain extent anyway. Right now Virgin Money look like firm favourites to take the Northern rock situation on, though only time will tell if that is the case.
