Spotlight On: N&P Gold Classic Current Account

The deal

From next Tuesday 4 January anyone opening Norwich & Peterborough's new Gold Classic Current Account will get free overseas debit card transactions.

The good points

Scrapping foreign fees on its debit cards could mean N&P customers saving £12 on the cost of taking out £250-worth of local currency in an overseas ATM. The account also has a free £250 overdraft for six months and a £10 fee-free buffer zone.

The bad points

You'll be charged a fiver if you don't pay in a minimum of £500 per month into the account. An unauthorised overdraft will mean a £19 charge while interest on overdrafts is 17.9 per cent.

Conclusion

The Nationwide used to be the building society to go to for free overseas transaction, but it ended its popular fee-free deal in November. the N&P's new offering could look attractive to regular travellers, but you'd need to carefully check all the overdraft fees and charges to work out whether you'd be better off switching or not.