The One account

The One account Ltd is single-brand subsidiary financial services company offering offset and flexible mortgages in the UK. The company pioneered the offset mortgage in the UK and; was conceived as a joint venture between Virgin Direct (Virgin's financial services company) and The Royal Bank of Scotland 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 The Royal Bank of Scotland achieved a majority shareholding and in effect became a RBS mortgage brand along with Natwest and First Active.

Distribution

One account products are sold directly by phone, internet and post. They are also distributed through intermediaries - mortgage brokers and Independent Financial Advisers.

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. 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. The One account vaunts the flexibility afforded by current account mortgages - customers may over or underpay for periods without prior agreement. The offset mortgage provides many the opportunity to save tens of thousands of pounds in interest charges and pay off their mortgage years early.

In 1999, research from NOP Financial validated by David Goldreich of London Business School proved that eight out of every ten people in the UK with borrowings of more than £50,000 would be better off with a One account.

The One account's first industry accolades

In June 2002, The Virgin One account scooped both Best Mortgage provider and Best Current Account provider at the Guardian/Observer Consumer Finance awards.

In the following year, The One account was awarded ‘Best Mortgage Provider’ for the 3rd year running at The Guardian/Observer Consumer Finance Awards, ‘Best Current Account and Offset Mortgage Provider’ at the Moneyfacts Awards, ‘Best Current Account Mortgage’ at the Your Mortgage Awards and ‘Lifestyle Lender of the Year’ at the Mortgage Strategy Awards.

More recent awards include 'Best Current Account Mortgage' from Mortgage Magazine in 2005 and 2006, 'Best Current Account Mortgage' from Your Mortgage Magazine in 2005, and in 2006 The One account was voted the 'Best Current Account and Offset Mortgage Provider' by Moneyfacts.

External links

* [http://mortgages.oneaccount.com/ The One account]
* [http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/help-and-advice/advice-banks/article.html?in_advicepage_id=115&in_article_id=394267&in_page_id=90 Advice on Offset Mortgages]