We have an OpenPlan offset mortgage account that was set up with the Woolwich and is now run by Barclays bank. We've been pretty happy with it.

However, Barclays seem uncommonly keen to get us to change one aspect: at the moment, the offset amount is effectively in a current account rather than a savings account (which is how it has always been for the many years we've run it). Barclays say that they now consider it to be more secure to move our offset savings into a "Pot 1" savings account.

This *seems* quite reasonable (not least because we don't use it as a current account anyway), and it does look as though our "meta-account" does support multiple savings "pots" (which seems to have been introduced some time after we started it, perhaps even in Woolwich days); but they are *so* keen for us to do it (several phone calls per day to ask whether we've decided yet) that we're suspicious!  They insist that it won't make any real difference to us, but it's hard to get anything in writing from them; instead they always want to get their mortgage advisor to call and discuss it with me, which makes me even more suspicious. Quite why they're so keen when the Woolwich said nothing, I don't know.

One theory is that it will be beneficial to *them*, as they may be able to do more with money in savings accounts than in current accounts. Or perhaps it reduces the risk to them somehow. My main concern is that my agreement (over the phone) will render void some right or privilege of ours that was carried over from the Woolwich, and which they're keen to shed.

 A friend suggests that following the Northern Rock fiasco they will be trying to balance their lendings and savings, and Barclays might not be able to consider "current account" offsets as savings; so they're just trying to plug a hole in their accounts.

(Come to think of it, what do they mean by "more secure"? Do they have a track record of theft from OpenPlan current accounts?!)

I've told them that we don't feel the need to change anything at the moment. They still want their mortgage advisor to call us. I still want them to put it writing so that the pros/cons are clearly spelled out (well as clearly as they can be in Bankspeak.) Much more of this and I will set my wife on them - she's much better at telling people where to go!

Has this happened to anyone else? Am I being overly suspicious, or is their advice sensible?

-- Brian