The Alliance and Leicester is giving a GBP100 incentive to customers going online and switching to their Premier Current Account from a competitor.
New customers who have moved from a different bank to the Alliance and Leicester will also receive free European travel insurance, an agreed overdraft for the first 12 months with no set up cost and a PlusSaver account that is linked to the current account, paying interest at 5.25 percent AER.
The idea behind the promotion by the Alliance and Leicester is to show consumers how moving bank accounts can work in their favour. With a seamless move across customers will find the whole process quick, easy and profitable.
Lloyds TSB has this week increased the rates of interest offered on its Plus current account to 6 percent, an enormous 2 percent more than it was previously.
The new higher interest rate is being offered on this particular Lloyds TSB current account for new customers opening their account before July 13. The only proviso is that at least GBP1,000 per month must be paid into the account, something that is quite common anyway.
Increasing their interest rate is quite a move for Lloyds TSB, though they appreciate that customers in the UK tend to be quite fixed when it comes to their current accounts, tending to stay with the same bank for many years. Lloyds therefore feel they have to really make an impact with their message in order to get people to consider moving and an impact it certainly is.
Barclays Bank recently announced they were considering a sale of shares to avoid a rights issue and this has led to interest from Temasek Holdings in Singapore and QIA, the Qatar Investment Authority.
The bank is looking to raise over GBP4 billion to fund the different areas of business, such as Barclays Insurance, as well as the high street banking operation. The QIA, which holds a stake of over 15 percent in the London Stock Exchange, expressed an interest in European banks as early as January this year, so they are seen to be a very interested party already.
Temasek Holdings also have a 2 percent stake in Barclays Bank already and will be very interested to see how the numbers add up for this latest opportunity. There has been talk of valuations needing to be reassessed although nothing firm has come from this to date. Perhaps as buyers get nearer to committing Barclays will need to ensure everything is in place to make the sales process a smooth one.
