Icesave Dispute - Icesave

Icesave

Icesave was an online savings account brand owned and operated by the private Landsbanki bank from 2006 to 2008 that offered savings accounts. It operated in two countries – the United Kingdom (from October 2006) and the Netherlands (from May 2008). The bank intended to roll the brand out to additional territories in 2008 and 2009.

In the UK, Icesave's marketing slogan was "clear difference", and it offered three types of savings accounts: an immediate-access savings account, cash ISA (Individual Savings Account), and a range of fixed-rate bonds. Interest rates on these accounts were over 6 per cent, among the best rates offered by online banks to UK customers at the time (2006-2007). At the time of Landsbanki's collapse, the bank had over 300,000 Icesave customers in the UK, with deposits of over £4 billion (€5 billion).

In the Netherlands, Icesave's marketing slogan was "de transparante spaarbank" (English: "the transparent savings bank"). It offered a single type of account: an immediate-access savings account which initially offered 5 per cent interest, later increased to 5.25 per cent. In the five months that it operated in the Netherlands, Icesave attracted more than 125,000 customers who deposited €1.7 billion.

Icesave accounts were accounts with Landsbanki's branches in London and Amsterdam, as the logo used in the United Kingdom made clear: "Icesave, part of Landsbanki, Reykjavik, Iceland." As Icesave was marketed as part of Landsbanki, the later complaints of the United Kingdom and Netherlands related to different treatment of Icelandic Landsbanki accounts and Icesave accounts.