The Financial Services Authority is planning to make changes to the rules regarding packaged current accounts, amid growing concerns that banking representatives are not highlighting benefit eligibility criteria to customers.

According to the Guardian, the proposed changes would see compulsory eligibility checks carried out by banks and building societies.

Packaged savings accounts are designed to offer a multitude of benefits, all paid for with one monthly charge to the bank. Inclusive services are usually mobile phone insurance, ID theft protection, travel insurance and breakdown cover, although this varies depending on the type of packaged account, as some are more comprehensive than others and the differing charges for each account reflects this. Monthly fees are usually between £8 and £25.

As people in the UK look to find ways to save money, more and more are choosing these multi-benefit accounts as they are cheaper than requesting each benefit individually from relevant providers.

Many people are paying for these accounts and then finding problems when it comes to making use of the benefits; for example, someone over 70 might find out that their inclusive travel insurance was invalid from the start due to their age. A banking representative can plead ignorance, and whether there was malicious intent or not would not matter, as the customer has already willingly agreed to the account.

Sheila Nicoll, FSA director of policy, said: “For some people packaged accounts represent good value and convenience. But in other cases customers may find that the insurance cover they have paid for is useless.”

“We are concerned it may be too easy at the moment for firms to sell customers something they do not understand or need. We want to make sure that packaged accounts are only being sold to customers who have actively decided it is the right product for them.”

Many current packaged accounts offer genuine value for money, so it’s simply a case of putting responsibility in the hands of the seller, in order to protect UK banking customers.

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