The One account is a secured personal bank account with The Royal Bank of Scotland plc offering offset and

flexible mortgage The term flexible mortgage refers to a residential mortgage loan that offers ''flexibility'' in the requirements to make monthly repayments. The flexible mortgage first appeared in Australia in the early 1990s (hence the US term Australian mortgage ...

s in the UK.

History

The company pioneered the

offset mortgage The term flexible mortgage refers to a residential mortgage loan that offers ''flexibility'' in the requirements to make monthly repayments. The flexible mortgage first appeared in Australia in the early 1990s (hence the US term Australian mortgag ...

in the UK and; was conceived as a joint venture between Virgin Direct (Virgin's financial services company) and

The Royal Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (RBS; gd, Banca Rìoghail na h-Alba) is a major retail and commercial bank in Scotland. It is one of the retail banking subsidiaries of NatWest Group, together with NatWest (in England and Wales) and Ulster Ba ...

in 1997. Initially, the company was known as the 'Virgin One account' and promoted to Virgin Direct's 200,000 strong UK customer base. The launch was very successful and was extended to the entire British public in May 1998. From January 2003, the company relaunched as 'The One account' when

took a majority shareholding, becoming an RBS mortgage brand along with NatWest and First Active. The One account is operated directly by phone, internet and post, with the customer service originally being provided on a 24/365 basis, but now reduced to a weekday and Saturday peak hour service.

Distribution

As well as being sold directly by phone, internet and post, One Account products were distributed through

intermediaries An intermediary (or go-between) is a third party that offers intermediation services between two parties, which involves conveying messages between principals in a dispute, preventing direct contact and potential escalation of the issue. In la ...

mortgage broker A mortgage broker acts as an intermediary who brokers mortgage loans on behalf of individuals or businesses. Traditionally, banks and other lending institutions have sold their own products. As markets for mortgages have become more competitive, ...

s and

independent financial adviser Independent financial advisers (IFAs) are professionals who offer independent advice on financial matters to their clients and recommend suitable financial products from the ''whole of the market''. The term was developed to reflect a United Kingd ...

s. The account is no longer available to new customers.

Current account mortgages

The type of offset products offered by The One account are called current account mortgages (CAM). As the name suggests, customers consolidate the balances of their mortgage, traditional current accounts, personal loans and, if desired, their saving accounts into one account. A low, mortgage-style interest rate is charged on the net balance of the account on a daily basis. Since customers pay their salary into the account this money has the effect of reducing the average balance and, therefore the interest paid when compared with a traditional

mortgage A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law jurisdicions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any ...

. The interest rate used to vary with the Bank of England base rate, however in recent months the One Account interest rate has not decreased along with the bank rate. In June 2008, customers were informed that their mortgage rates would increase by 0.25% to reflect 'current market conditions' although the Bank of England rate had not increased.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:One Account, The Royal Bank of Scotland Banks of the United Kingdom Banks established in 1997