Customer loyalty is rarely rewarded in financial services. In fact most insurers, banks and other finance firms treat their most loyal customers worse than any others.
Did you open a cash Isa some years ago and think no more of it, hoping you might get a reasonable rate without having to ring up and check every few months? Your loyalty probably means your money now earns 0.1 per cent (yes, Isa accounts operated by Barclays and Halifax, among others, pay as little as this).
The same applies to insurance and, to a large extent, to mortgages, credit cards and investment funds. And although finance firms are the unrivalled masters of treating the best customers worst, this attitude is now widespread among energy firms, phone and broadband suppliers.
Top rate: Members of the Cheshire, Dunfermline and Derbyshire building societies (now all under the umbrella of Nationwide) have been offered a fixed-rate savings bond paying 3.9 per cent on £100 or moreThese companies are always advertising some fantastic deal or other, but in the smallprint the following poisonous words ‘not available to existing customers’ inevitably appear. Unless you are in permanently combative mode and always vigilant about the terms you are receiving, constantly threatening to take your business elsewhere, then you are at risk of getting a poor deal.
But there are the rare areas where loyalty is rewarded. A number of building societies operate accounts available only to existing members, and although these, too, may be cynical marketing ploys, they sometimes offer value.
More... The loyalty exploiters: If you renew home or car cover without seeking alternative quotes, you could be taken for a ride by a cynical insurer
Last week, members of the Cheshire, Dunfermline and Derbyshire building societies (now all under the umbrella of Nationwide) were offered a fixed-rate savings bond – maturing in July 2013 – paying 3.9 per cent on £100 or more. A top rate over the term, this is genuinely attractive.
What readers constantly tell us is that in exchange for their long-term loyalty, they expect fair rates and fair treatment over the long term. It’s not much to ask.
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A colleague received a phone call from his bank, NatWest, on Thursday.
An official warned him that a direct debit was due but his account did not have sufficient funds. Did he want to transfer some money?
My jaw dropped. Such common sense and courtesy from a bank – and NatWest at that?
Incredible. In the old days NatWest would have charged him £35, posted a snotty letter and started the clock on an exorbitant overdraft rate the second the direct debit hit the account.
Could this be a glimmer of something new and unheard of in High Street banking – customer service?