Santander UK doubles fees for 123 current account holders, blaming low interest rates and tough banking regulations
Santander UK is more than doubling its fees on 123 current accounts, raising the yearly rate to £60.
Three million customers are affected by the fee hike, which the Spanish banking giant is blaming on changes in banking regulations and low interest rates.
Monthly fees will be raised to £5, more than twice today’s rate of £2 monthly.
The bank said that sharply dropping savings rates were to blame for the new fees, as well as tightened regulations on banks.
As well as raising fees, Santander will also be capping cashback amounts for new customers. This is the first time the fee has been changed since the current account was launched three years ago, and Reza Attar-Zadeh, head of retail products at Santander, said:
External market factors mean we’ve had to make some changes to ensure the products continue to meet the needs of our customers, but also our shareholders.
The news comes just weeks after Santander UK reported a jump in half-year profits, nearly doubling its pre-tax profit from £545m to £929m.