Bank

The high street isn’t necessarily the best place to put your money

Finding the right bank means working out which bank gives you a good return on your business- whether that be interest on your savings or a cheap loan rate if you’re borrowing. It also means the bank which provides the full range of services you’ll need, and which rewards you for your loyalty in using them.

If you ask your parents, they’ll tell you that a bank is a building on the high street that closes at 3.30pm and claims to look after your money. These days that’s no longer necessarily the case. Of course you can still use a high street bank- and there are good reasons to do so, but you need to consider two other types of bank as well. If you’re tech savvy (and you’re reading this after all) consider internet banking. Many internet banks (Cahoot, Smile) offer proper current accounts, and because their costs are lower they can give you a better rate of interest on your money. If you don’t like internet banking, perhaps try First Direct bank. It offers arguably the best telephone banking service, and some excellent products too.

One thing to bear in mind though. Not all internet banks do offer current accounts. And some that do may not offer the breadth of other services your high street bank can. You see, everyone needs to make money somewhere. Since day-to-day banking is usually free of charge, some internet banks won’t do it. Your high street bank can offer you free banking because they’ll make a profit in other places- investments or loans for example. So don’t just consider the interest rate on your current balance- ask yourself what overall services you need (Loans? A cashcard? Instant access to money?) before deciding which bank to plump for. Over half of us never bother changing bank accounts, so you’re already taking a step in the right direction!