Packaged accounts have a whole list of pros and cons and opinions about them vary a lot among people who signed up for them.
Even though they are often mis-sold by bank employees and the majority complains about the cost of a monthly fee they’re paying for them, they still have a lot of benefits. If those benefits can be of use, of course.
So, to know exactly what kinds of packaged accounts exist and what banks offer them, an analysis was conducted to show which are the best and which are the worst packaged bank accounts.
The analysis focuses on six aspects included in packaged accounts – annual cost, car breakdown cover, travel insurance, mobile phone insurance, interest-free overdraft limits and cashback limits (as an extra benefit).
Before signing up for any packaged bank account, make sure you read the following.
Here are the results of an analysis!
The analysis
The results are all calculated on a score up to 100 and weighted by the annual cost and value after fees (30%), quality of travel insurance (30%), mobile phone insurance (10%) and car breakdown cover (30%).
At the bottom of the list were Revolut and Monzo – Revolut’s Metal account scored only 36%, while Monzo’s Premium scored 48%.
The top picks were Nationwide’s FlexPlus and The Co-operative Bank’s Everyday Extra packaged accounts. They both scored 77%.
Let’s take a better look at the results.
The bottom of the list
As we have already said, Revolut and Monzo took the bottom of the list.
Revolut’s Metal account costs £155.88. It doesn’t include mobile phone insurance and car breakdown cover.
However, it comes with worldwide family travel insurance that includes winter sports and has a cashback of up to 1%.
Also, accidental damage cover for a year and reimbursements of up to £1,000 for cancelled events are included.
On the other hand, Monzo Premium costs £180 a year and includes mobile phone cover up to £2,000, worldwide family travel insurance, the ability to withdraw £600 every 30 days abroad without incurring fees.
Monzo Premium and Monzo Plus accounts have recently added car breakdown cover into their packages, costing an extra £5 a month.
The top of the list
The top score of 77% went to Nationwide’s FlexPlus and The Co-operative Bank’s Everyday Extra packaged accounts.
Nationwide’s account costs £156 per year, which is cheaper than £180 a year for The Co-operative Bank’s account.
However, Nationwide’s accounts don’t provide any extra benefits (cashbacks for example).
On the other hand, the cashback scheme in The Co-operative Bank allows you to save up to £2 cashback, plus 5p per debit card purchases each month. This applies if you stay within the agreed overdraft limit and log in to online banking (there are some other conditions, also).
Travel insurance is better at The Co-operative Bank, as it covers COVID-19-related incidents.
The biggest growth of importance has been identified for travel insurance due to the pandemic.
Always make sure you read the terms and conditions of a travel insurance policy before taking it out, packaged bank accounts included.
We hope this article will help you to understand about best and worst packaged accounts.
