UK: nine banks launch fee-free accounts

The new accounts will be available starting 1 January 2016 to people who fail to qualify for a full current account, bbc.com reports. Users of the new accounts will also qualify for a debit card, which they can use to shop online, or at cash points. However, they will not be able to run up an overdraft.

The initiative follows an agreement between the Treasury and the industry in December 2014. Barclays, Santander, NatWest, RBS, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, TSB, the Co-operative Bank and Nationwide Building Society are among those that will offer deals under the agreement, the Treasury said.

According to a report by the Financial Inclusion Commission, published in March 2015, nearly two million people in the UK still do not have a bank account at all.