Many banks don’t seem interested in disclosing interest rate

Among the largest banks for personal clients, just three – HSBC, Lloyds TSB and its Halifax subsidiary – are open about the interest paid. Among smaller providers, Yorkshire Building Society adopts such good practice. All these permit those logging on to their account to immediately see the current interest rate set alongside their balance.

Instead the likes of Barclays, Co-operative, First Direct (owned by HSBC), Post Office and Spanish-owned Santander – cloak such information. Their clients have three options: to work through an extensive list of accounts to find the relevant one tucked away on the banker’s website, to telephone with the usual delays or await a statement which might come in a year’s time.

Those less than open about their rates rely on inertia by their customers. They defend their position by saying interest rates are advised when statements are issued, either electronically or on paper. Naturally there may well be a considerable delay between such issuance.

In some cases, a statement is issued only every 12 months. Since most rate changes are made without informing customers directly, it may come as quite a shock to see the derisory rate imposed.

Some providers work on a quarterly cycle to inform customers, such as the Post Office.

It might be expected that an almost nationalised bank – the troubled Royal Bank of Scotland, which is 84 per cent owned by the taxpayer – and its affiliate, NatWest, would wish to set a shining example to match Lloyds TSB, which is 40.2 per cent publicly owned. Instead it reveals that it will shortly change its policy to declare interest rates when customers use a computer to check their savings.

Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale, both currently owned by National Australia Bank, make few concessions to savers, placing interest rates away on a separate computer page or advising by statement.

The UK’s largest mutual, Nationwide, stresses it is customer-friendly but until recently only gave interest information for fixed rate accounts on an individual basis.