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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
Rachel Pugh

Millions of bank account balances nosedive to £0 as new overdraft rules come into place

Millions of people woke up to find their available bank balances at £0 today, despite still having money in their accounts.

However, there is no need to panic, as for most, the £0 balance isn't a reflection on your Christmas shopping habits, but is a result of changes to the overdraft system.

From today, banks are no longer to call overdrafts 'available funds'.

Instead, the money you have available in your overdraft will be shown separately - making it clear that your overdraft funds are a form of credit, and not your own money.

New changes to overdrafts explained

Other changes coming into place include new rules on interest payments.

These new rules mean that, from April of next year, banks and building societies won't be allowed to charge higher fees for unarranged overdrafts. Fixed fees for borrowing via an overdraft are also set to be banned in 2020.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expects to see the cost of borrowing fall from an average of £5 a day to 10p a day as a result of the changes.

Around 14 million people currently use an unarranged overdraft each year.

For more information, contact your bank.

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