NatWest increases saving account restrictions

NatWest has made a number of changes to its savings accounts terms and conditions, which increase restrictions on the accounts and cut rate change notice periods.

Savings customers will no longer be able to use their savings accounts to pay bills or transfer money and customers will only be able to send money to their own NatWest current accounts. In addition to this, NatWest has cut the notice period it gives customers about rate changes from 60 days to just 14 days, while those with savings of less than £100 will not receive any warnings about rate changes.

According to NatWest, these changes have been made to bring its savings accounts in-line with what many other major banks already do. In addition to this, the bank states that ATM cards on savings accounts are used by less than 2% of its customers.

Savers with less than £100 in savings will still be notified of rate changes in NatWest branches, on its website and through press adverts. NatWest also informed Moneyfacts.co.uk that the new rates will be displayed on its mobile app and online banking.

A spokesperson for NatWest said: “We want to help our customers save more and are doing this by differentiating our savings accounts from our current accounts. Savings accounts will focus on saving, meaning we will no longer issue ATM cards for these accounts and funds will need to be paid into a current account of the same brand before they can be paid elsewhere. We have found this helps customers to save even more and can help prevent against fraud.”