Most UK banks now offer a full range of traditional banking products, plus a suite of insurance and assurance products. This move into the territory of insurance companies has been coined Bancassurance.
Some of the products that you would expect your bank to offer include:
– Current accounts. There are 3 main categories of current accounts. Packaged accounts where you typically pay a monthly subscription fee and, in return, get a package of services (e.g. free travel insurance, discounted loans, etc). The second type of current account is the standard fee free accounts. Typically you get an overdraft (subject to status), and a card with this type of account. The third type of current account is the Basic current account. These accounts are for people who don’t qualify (or don’t want) an overdraft.
– Overdrafts, which come with current accounts subject to status
– Student and Graduate accounts
– Kids and youth accounts
– Savings accounts. There are a wide range of savings accounts, including instant access, notice accounts, and bonds.
– Credit cards
– Personal loans, which are unsecured.
– Mortgages, which are a type of secured loan used to buy a house. There are a wide range of mortgages including fixed rate, discounted, flexible
– Offset accounts, which bundle up all your accounts into one package.
– Insurance products, such as Travel, home, and car insurance. Also loan insurance, mortgage, insurance. And some less common ones like pet insurance.
– Assurance products. When you take a mortgage you will need life assurance.
– Travel currency / Travelers cheques
The account types that I’ve listed above are available to personal customers. Banks, of course, offer a wide range of accounts also to small business and corporate customers.
There are other services that banks offer, such as:
– Internet banking
– Telephone banking
– Mobile phone banking – not all banks offer this yet but it’s coming and it’s going to be big
– Share dealing services
– Cash Machine (ATMs), for cash withdrawal, mobile phone top up, etc
– Quick deposit boxes, to reduce the amount of time people have to queue
– Mobile banking – i.e. in remote parts of Scotland, there are buses that are mini banks and that serve the remote communities
I’m sure I’ve missed tonnes of the products and services that banks offer but hopefully I’ve covered most of the main ones!