The most common relationship people have with their banks are through current accounts and savings. Designed for people to use as everyday tools, current accounts are generally for salries and day to day dealings.
Customers will normally be provided with a cheque book and a debit card to accompany their Current Accounts, so they can purchase goods and services. Another common feature of a Current Account is an overdraft facility. This is one of the cheapest forms of borrowing a small amount of money over a short period. Banks will often charge a monthly fee for the provision of this facility and interest may also be applicable, but these fees are normally only charged when the overdraft facility is used.
More common at present is the introduction of fee-paying products. This is where a customer receives all the normal perks, but, for a monthly fee, also gets a number of value-added products; life assurance and a will-writing service for instance.However, most people still opt for the basic non-fee paying package. Banks have also recently been forced into paying interest on customer's credit balances, something that historically hasn't always been the case.
It is usual for customers to have regular payments deducted as well. Direct Debits or Standing Orders can be set up and used to pay a variety of bills, from utilities such as water rates and council tax, to loans and even credit card repayments. New financial institutions are always coming up with new variations on this traditional form of organising your finances. Now people can opt to have their credit balance offset against their mortgage, thereby paying their mortgage off early, or lowering their monthly repayments.
