Halifax pledges commitment to free banking

Halifax has said that it is "committed to free banking" following the news that First Direct is to begin charging some of its customers a monthly fee for use of its current account.

First Direct will charge customers who don’t meet certain criteria £10 a month for ownership of its account.

Those people who don’t pay £1,500 a month into the product, have an average monthly balance of £1,500 or hold another financial package with First Direct will be subject to the charge.

Following this development, there has been speculation that the end of free banking could be in sight.

Peter Jackson, head of products at Halifax, said: "Halifax is committed to free banking and we would hope that other banks and building societies share this commitment.

"Value for money is key for banking customers and Halifax Bank of Scotland regularly takes over 20 per cent of the new-to-banking and switchers market."

Alliance & Leicester has also commented on First Direct’s move, saying that it could lead to 195,000 customers being charged a collective £23 million a year for what is "a very basic current account".