Service fees

Standard account service fees

> Standard account service fees
> Example 1 of how our fees operate
> Example 2 of how our fees operate
> Fair Fees policy

Key Features and Price List

When you open an Account with Abbey, we want you to be sure that you understand how the account works to enable you to manage your finances more effectively. Our aim is to make everything clear for you and we will always be available to give financial advice to help you make the most of your partnership with us. These Key Features give you the main points in an easy to read summary and include the Price List for our services. Please read this carefully and note that this is only a guide. You should refer to the terms and conditions for the full details about your Account. This summary is relevant to our Preferred In-Credit Rate, Preferred Overdraft Rate, 11-15, 16-18, Student current account, Graduate current account, International Student Account, Postgraduate current account and Reward Bank Account.

Services we offer you

Deposits service: You can deposit money in your account and, when your account is in credit, you will earn interest on your deposits at our current interest rate.
Overdrafts service: You can request an overdraft, and if we agree you can borrow that money from us. Fees for overdraft services are described in the Abbey price list.
Payments service: We will pay out money which you have deposited in your account, or which we have agreed to lend to you as an overdraft.

Our commitment to you

Service Fees

We always want to be fair and open with you in the way that you pay for our services. We will always give you notice of all Service Fees for standard account services and Interest that you owe us at least 14 days before the day on which the money will be taken from your account. You can discuss at any time any Service Fees or Interest you have incurred on your account, or why you have paid them, by speaking to one of our advisers in our branches or by calling us on 08459 724 724 *

Deposits service

Money paid into your account by cheque will not be available for withdrawal immediately. If you want to draw against a cheque you have paid in, you must ensure that the money is available first. If you ask us to pay money out without sufficient funds in your account or a sufficient Advance Overdraft in place then you will be treated as making a request for an Instant Overdraft (see below). Further information on cheque processing times can be obtained from the terms and conditions or by contacting us.

Cash deposits made over the counter at an Abbey branch will be made available in your account straight away. Cash deposits made at an Abbey cash machine will normally be available on the working day after the day they are paid in.

Overdrafts service (customers aged 18 and over)

There are two different ways that you can get an overdraft on your account:

(i) using our Advance Overdraft service.

(ii) using our Instant Overdraft service.

Different service fees and different interest rates will be payable by you depending on whether you choose to use our Advance Overdraft service or our Instant Overdraft service. The fees you will pay for using our Instant Overdraft service will be higher than those for the Advance Overdraft service.

Advance Overdrafts

You can contact us to discuss and ask for an overdraft, or an extension to an existing overdraft, (an ‘Advance Overdraft’ ), in each case up to a set limit, by speaking to one of our advisers in our branches or by telephoning us on 08459 724 724 *. An Advance Overdraft fee may be payable by you if your Advance Overdraft is agreed or its limit changed, and at each renewal date. At present, the Advance Overdraft service is free other than interest, which will be payable at the Advance Overdraft Interest Rate on any money you borrow by way of an Advance Overdraft. We will give you 30 days’ notice if an Advance Overdraft Fee becomes payable and how much it is. If you switch your account to us, you will receive a four-month interest-free overdraft (depending on your circumstances). It is unlikely that you will have to pay any bank changes due to failure during the switching process, however if this happens, we’ll refund any charges in full.

Instant Overdrafts

We will treat you as having asked for an Instant Overdraft if you request to make a payment which would cause your account to go overdrawn without an Advance Overdraft in place or cause your account to go over your existing Advance Overdraft limit. Different service fees and interest rates will apply. An Instant Overdraft Request Fee will be payable by you each time that you request an Instant Overdraft from us and regardless of whether we agree to give you the Instant Overdraft requested. Payment of the Instant Overdraft Request Fee may result in you becoming overdrawn (or, if you already have an overdraft, further overdrawn) even if we do not agree to give you the Instant Overdraft you asked for.

An Instant Overdraft Monthly Fee will be payable by you in respect of each month during which you have used an Instant Overdraft on your account. Interest will be payable by you at the Instant Overdraft Interest Rate on any money you borrow by way of an Instant Overdraft.

Payments service

There is no Service Fee for withdrawing cash from your account using an Abbey cash machine, although there may be Service Fees for cash withdrawals at other cash machines in the UK and abroad. Please see our Price List for details. There are maximum daily limits on the amount of cash you can withdraw from your account using your cheque book or card. When you open your account, or when you are issued with a card, we will tell you what these limits are.

Your commitment to us

To use your Account for personal banking, not business, purposes
To understand how the service fees and interest apply to your Account
To monitor your Account balance and tell us if something is wrong
To repay any overdraft in full together with the interest, fees and charges if requested by us
To keep your Personal Security Details secure, especially your PIN, and to tell us as soon as your think your details have been misused
To inform us immediately if you lose a card or chequebook and to tell the Police
To keep us advised of any changes to your personal details
To protect yourself from financial fraud, especially identity theft
To return any cards and cheques when asked by us to do so

Other important information

Cancelling your account

You have 14 days after opening your Account to give us notice of cancellation. Any overdraft, interest, fees and charges will have to be repaid within 30 days. We will repay you any credit balance outstanding.

Closing your account

Either you or we may close your account at any time by giving the other notice. If we decide to do this we will, wherever possible, give you at least 2 months’ notice (unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as fraud). If your account is overdrawn, you must pay off the whole of the overdrawn balance on your account immediately.

Personal information

The security of your cheque books, cards and Personal Security Details is essential to help prevent fraud and protect your account. To ensure this you must: sign your card(s) in permanent ink as soon as you receive it; destroy the notification of your PIN or Personal Security Details as soon as you receive them; always take reasonable steps to keep your cards safe and your PIN and Personal Security Details secret; and not keep your cheque books and cards together. If you believe that any of your cards have been lost, stolen or misused, or if you believe that your password, PIN or Personal Security Details have become known to another person, then you must notify us as soon as possible either at a branch or by telephoning: Abbey Card Services (24-hour service) on 0845 9344 900 * or if you call from overseas +44 1908 344900.

Abbey price list

The price list shows our current day-to-day service fees and interest rates. It may change from time to time and, if it does, we will give you details of the new fees and rates. Please ask us if you’d like to know about fees for less frequently used services.

Standard account service fees

Cash deposit	Free
Cheque deposit	Free
Automated credit	Free
Setting up, changing or cancelling standing orders	Free
Setting up, changing or cancelling bill payments	Free
Setting up or cancelling direct debits	Free
Advance Overdrafts (overdrafts agreed in advance by speaking to one of our advisers)
Arranging a new Advance Overdraft	Free
Renewing an existing Advance Overdraft	Free
Changing (increasing or reducing) an existing Advance Overdraft limit	Free
The Instant Overdraft Request Fee depends on the size of the transaction, not the size of the Instant Overdraft you ask for.
Transaction £0 - £9.99	£5
Transaction £10 - £19.99	£15
Transaction £20 - £29.99	£25
Transaction £30+	£35
Instant Overdraft Monthly Fee (charged each month during which an Instant Overdraft is used)	£25
International Student Account Unpaid item fee (where you try to make a payment from your account without enough money in your account to cover that payment)
Unpaid item = £0 to £9.99	£5
Unpaid item = £10 to £19.99	£15
Unpaid item = £20 to £29.99	£25
Unpaid item = £30 or more	£30
Interest charged on money you owe us on the account	28.7% EAR (variable) (see note 15)
International Student Bank Account These monthly fees apply as well as any standard account fees. The fees are charged each month on the anniversary of the account opening.
International Student Bank Account	£5
Reward Bank Account Fee These monthly fees apply as well as any standard account fees. The fees are charged each month on the anniversary of account opening.
Reward Bank Account	£10
Cash machine and debit card fees
Using Abbey cash machines or LINK cash machines	Free
Handling charge for withdrawals from Cirrus-badged machines (if not part of Abbey or LINK cash machine networks)	1.5 % of the value (minimum £1.99)
Visa Debit Card and Visa Electron Card use outside the UK (on top of the Visa/ PLUS cash withdrawal handling charge)	2.75% of the value
Handling charge Visa cash withdrawal, buying traveller's cheques or foreign currencies from banks, organisations or cash machines displaying the Visa or Plus symbol (if the cash machine is not part of Abbey or LINK cash machine network)	1.5% of the value (minimum £1.99)
Card payments (not cash withdrawals) abroad and in a currency other than sterling	£1.25
Non standard account service fees
Photocopying cheques	£4 per cheque
Banker's draft and counter cheque fee	£10 per draft or counter cheque
Statement copy	£5 or £10 for multiple statements
Presentation of foreign cheques	£10 per cheque (the paying bank may make an extra charge)
To transfer between Preferred In-Credit Rate and Preferred Overdraft Rate	First request each year is free, £10 for each extra request
Stop payment of a cheque	Free

Example 1 of how our fees operate

You have no Advance Overdraft set up on your account. At the start of the month you make a cheque payment for £18.99, which we pay and causes your account to go £12 overdrawn. The next day you make a card payment for £8, which we pay and causes your account to go £20 overdrawn. The following day a direct debit for £200 is presented to us, which we also pay, causing your account to be £220 overdrawn.

In this example you would be charged:

An Instant Overdraft Request Fee of £15 for the cheque payment
An Instant Overdraft Request Fee of £5 for the card payment
An Instant Overdraft Request Fee of £35 for the Direct Debit
An Instant Overdraft Monthly Fee of £25 for using the Instant Overdraft service
Interest would be debited at a rate of 28.7% EAR (variable) for the Instant Overdraft

Example 2 of how our fees operate

Your balance at the start of the day is £100 and you have an Advance Overdraft set up on your Preferred Overdraft account for £300. A cheque that you have written for £800 is presented to us that day, which we pay. A direct debit from your account for £450 is also presented to us that day, which we do no pay.

In this example you would be charged:

An Instant Overdraft Request Fee of £35 for the cheque payment
An Instant Overdraft Request Fee of £35 for the Direct Debit
An Instant Overdraft Monthly Fee of £25 for using the Instant Overdraft service
Interest would be debited at a rate of 28.7% EAR (variable) for the Instant Overdraft of £400 and the Advance Overdraft of £300.

Fair Fees Policy

We want to be open and fair in how we charge you for using our overdraft services. To help us do this, we work to the following principles:

We will always give you at least 14 days' notice of any overdraft service fees due on your current account
Instant Overdraft Request Fees are always linked to the value of the payment which triggers the request for the Instant Overdraft service. For example, an Instant Overdraft requested by making a payment under £10 will only incur an Instant Overdraft Request Fee of £5.
If you intend to use an overdraft regularly on your current account, it will be cheaper to arrange an Advance Overdraft, rather than use our Instant Overdraft service. Whilst we cannot guarantee to give you an Advance Overdraft, we will always consider your application fairly and give you a decision within a reasonable time.
We will always be willing to discuss your financial situation and to help find appropriate ways of dealing with any financial difficulties you may have on your current account.

Further information about Abbey

If you have any questions or would like more information, please visit one of our branches or call us on 08459 724 724 * and we will be happy to help you. If you find yourself in financial difficulty, you should talk to us.

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