Barclays plans overdraft fees shake-up

Barclays is reviewing overdraft fees and charges faced by nearly 12 million current account customers as it plans a major overhaul to rid itself of "any sins of the past".

The shake-up could include extending a text alert service which warns customers when they are a day away from going into the red, and letting those with multiple accounts automatically move money around to avoid overdraft charges (see our Best Bank Accounts guide to compare current accounts).

A new overdraft policy is to be drawn up over the next four months, Barclays says.

It currently charges most of its current account customers £22 for every five working days that they are in breach of their first overdraft limit.

The review is part of a number of new measures formulated after the bank received 2,600 ideas from customers following the launch of its Your Bank initiative earlier this month, which encouraged suggestions for improvements.

Other measures include trialling coin machines in some branches to enable customers to count loose change and deposit it into their accounts.

Its Pingit mobile payments app will be extended to 11 to 14-year-olds, enabling younger customers to send and receive money by using their phone number.

A Barclays spokesperson says the changes will be implemented "as quickly as possible", but there are no set dates yet.

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