How to choose the best current account for you

Your current account is the bank account you use the most, but it's the one most of us spend the least time selecting. Odds are you're getting a poor deal, says Ruth Jackson. So here's how to get a better one.

Your current account is the bank account you use the most. And yet it's the one most of us spend the least time selecting. Odds are your parents took you into their local bank to open an account when you were a child and you haven't given it a second thought since.

It is time you did. The banks know that most of us are entirely apathetic about our accounts and they use that knowledge to rip us off. If you are usually in credit the chances are you are getting an absolutely paltry rate of interest think 0.1%. And if you are usually in the red, then in all likelihood you are paying an extortionate rate of interest on your debt of up to around 20%.

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Ruth Jackson-Kirby

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.