NatWest cuts perks on Select Silver account including Lovefilm

NatWest cuts perks on its paid-for Select Silver current account and replaces them with cheaper alternatives

By

Published: 06:59 EDT, 10 June 2014 | Updated: 06:59 EDT, 10 June 2014

NatWest has announced changes to its popular paid-for Select Silver current account which means customers will no longer get a Lovefilm subscription.

The bank has also axed identity theft assistance and hmvdigital music downloads on the £10 a-month account, citing a lack of customer use as the reason behind the chop which will come into effect on 21 July 2014.

Lovefilm, which became ‘Amazon Prime’ after being acquired by the online retail giant, previously cost £5.99 a month and provided DVDs by post. The offer was a lure for many to buy the account.

As part of the changes, the high street bank will instead offer a Tastecard membership, which offers two for one on meals, or 50 per cent off, at a number of restaurants across the country.

NatWest says membership cards will be sent in the next few weeks.

It will also offer 25 per cent cashback via a new Select Silver account booking service on tickets for concerts, sporting events, theatre shows and musicals. 

Totting up the figures, Lovefilm had been worth more than £71 to Select Silver customers a year and, with new charges imposed the shift to Amazon, this would have been more than £95 as it now costs £7.99 a month to have films posted.

Those who took advantage of the five free HMV music downloads a month will lose out on another £60 worth of perks, with the average track costing 99p.

The ID fraud protection perk is hard to price as policies that perform solely this job are not available, but rather are bundled into other products or services.

These perks have now been replaced by a Tastecard which people can purchase without a Select Silver account for £30 per year after signing up for a free trial.

The Select Silver account has been subject to a number of changes in the past which have irked customers. At the start of 2013, NatWest upped the monthly cost from £8 per month to £10, adding an extra £24 to the annual charge.

Then last summer it started charging a £6 a month ‘arranged overdraft usage fee’ for Select Silver customers when they go over £10 into the red – on top of existing annual interest of 19.89 per cent.

The interest-free buffer which customers have on their arranged overdrafts was also cut from £100 to £10.

With plenty of new free current accounts on the market offering in-credit interest, including a new one from , many may now be tempted to look at the alternatives as most will be getting less for their monthly fee.