A&L offers incentives on current account

With a move that could spark yet another current account war amongst UK banks, the Alliance and Leicester has kicked off this year by offering a range of incentives on its current account for new customers that open an account. The bank hopes that by offering these perks it can take custom from rival banks and increase its own customer base.

Amongst the incentives that the Alliance and Leicester is offering to new customers that open current accounts are £100 cash back, a twelve month interest free overdraft facility, and a whopping 6.5 percent interest. The offers have been made available on the bank’s free Premier accounts and its packaged Premier 50 accounts.

One industry official said: ‘2009 may well be the year of the current account after a period of relative stagnation as providers wait to see the outcome of the ongoing OFT court case on bank charges. At least two major providers have initiatives due early this year, as they step up the battle for the lucrative current account market.

He added: ‘Consumers need to be vigilant though and look carefully at the different offers to see which will suit their needs. For example the right current account for a customer who never goes overdrawn will be different than for a customer who does dip into the red regularly.’