If you don’t have an arranged overdraft these changes won’t affect you right now but could if you apply for an arranged overdraft in the future.
We previously told you that your arranged overdraft interest rate was going to increase from 6 April 2020. To support businesses through the disruption caused by coronavirus we delayed these changes.
The planned changes to your arranged overdraft interest rate will now take effect from 10 November 2021. Your arranged overdraft annual fee will remain the same. We’ll continue to not charge unarranged overdraft interest charges, unpaid item fees or paid items fees which we removed on or before 6 April 2020. You can find full details of fees and charges in your Key Facts Document.
| Account | Arranged overdraft interest rate before 10 November 2021 | Arranged overdraft interest rate from 10 November 2021 |
|---|---|---|
| 1|2|3 Business Current Account and Business Current Account | 5.10% EAR (variable)* | 10.00% EAR (variable) |
| Business Everyday Current Account | 6.00% EAR (variable)** | 25.00% EAR (variable) |
*Bank of England Base rate plus 5.00%
**Bank of England Base rate plus 5.90%
You’ll be able to see the arranged overdraft interest you’ve been charged on your statements and on Online and Mobile Banking, and we’ll continue to let you know at least 14 days before we debit your monthly charges and interest.
We offer a range of services, tools and other borrowing options to help you prevent or minimise charges
- These services include Online and Mobile Banking as well as free overdraft text and/or email alerts. You can choose to receive these alerts to notify you before your account is charged so that you have plenty of time to pay money in. You can also set up additional alerts to advise you when your balance has fallen below a set limit.
- You can also reduce or cancel your arranged overdraft facility at any time. If you cancel your arranged overdraft you must repay the money that you have borrowed before the cancellation can be completed. You must also pay all the fees and interest applicable to your overdraft at that time.
- Overdrafts are only suitable for short-term borrowing. If you feel that an arranged overdraft is no longer right for you, take a look at our available lending options
What to do next
You should consider what these changes mean for you. These changes take effect on 10 November 2021 so you have time to consider whether your account is still right for your business.
- If you still want your account but don’t want an arranged overdraft, we can remove it for you after you’ve paid back any outstanding overdraft balance and charges, if applicable.
- If you keep using your account, we’ll automatically make these changes and assume you accept them.
- If you feel your account is no longer right for your business, you can either transfer it to another Santander account or close your account at any time without additional cost before or after the changes become effective. Details of all our accounts and information about how to transfer accounts can be found on our website.
The updated Key Facts Documents are effective from 10 November 2021 and will also be available on our website and in our branches from 10 November 2021.
We’re here to help
If you have any questions, please get in touch. If you would like to speak to us directly please contact us on 0330 123 9860. We may record and monitor calls to help us with training.
You may also be interested in our business support resources or alternative sources of finance for your business.
In response to the FCA’s review of the overdraft market, in January 2020 we communicated that we’d remove all unarranged overdraft interest charges, unpaid item fees, paid item fees and that we were increasing our arranged overdraft interest rate. However, to support businesses through the disruption caused by coronavirus we delayed the changes to our arranged overdraft interest rates. We’re now providing two months’ notice that the planned changes will take effect from 10 November 2021.
From 10 November 2021. You will see this on your statements and through Online or Mobile Banking.
An overdraft is intended for borrowing small amounts of money over a short period of time. Find out more about overdrafts
An unarranged overdraft is when you go overdrawn by more than your arranged overdraft limit, or when there is no arranged overdraft limit on your account and your account balance falls below £0. Whilst we’ll try to limit situations where your account goes into an unarranged overdraft position, there are circumstances beyond our control and some occasions when we may decide to allow a payment without there being sufficient funds in your account – in these situations, you’ll not be charged for any unarranged overdraft borrowing.
The occasions where this might still happen are:
- if we choose to allow a payment despite there being insufficient funds in your account;
- if we can’t, for any reason, stop a payment you’ve made;
- if a payment into your account is recalled by the bank making it;
- if a cheque paid into your account is later returned unpaid; or
- if we apply charges to your account.
If you’d like to make sure you can make important payments, you can ask us to set up an arranged overdraft limit on your account or for your existing overdraft limit to be increased if needed.
You can apply for an arranged overdraft during or at any point after you have opened your account (or change or remove one you already have). We can’t guarantee that we’ll be able to offer you one or increase an existing arranged overdraft limit, and any decision we reach will be based on what we know about how you manage your money.
If you cancel your arranged overdraft, you must repay the money that you have borrowed as soon as possible before the cancellation can be completed. You must also pay all the fees and interest applicable to the terms of your overdraft.
Yes. If you have a CBILS overdraft, you received a Business Interruption Payment made directly by the UK government to Santander to cover payments of interest and other fees for a period of 12 months. After 12 months, interest is applied as detailed in your product specific Key Facts Document.