Mostly I wouldn’t suggest that too many of us pay any attention at all to letters noting minor looking changes to the terms of conditions of corporate deposit accounts at Natwest and RBS (which owns Natwest). Not so this week. This week we all need to pay a lot of attention. The letter in question notes that ‘global interest rates remain at very low levels’ – something I think we all know. But goes on to say that ‘this could result in us charging interest on credit balances’ in the event that the UK base rate falls below zero. Yes, instead of paying its business customers interest on their money, the bank is warning them that it may soon be charging them interest on their money.
This wouldn’t be a global first of course: the ECB has a negative interest rate of 0.4
Comments
Join the debate for just $5 for 3 months
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for $5.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just $5 for 3 monthsAlready a subscriber? Log in