Woolwich, once a building society but now the mortgage part of Barclays Bank, is moving its savers to the bank’s own-branded savings accounts, to some dissatisfaction from some of its existing account holders.

Barclays is writing to Woolwich’s 3.6 million savers and 2 million current account holders informing them where their money is being put in the bank’s range of products.

Many of the savers are in the Woolwich Card Saver, an instant access account, and these people are being transferred into a new account, Barclays Flexible Savings. This only comes with a cash card to withdraw money from ATMs, rather than the Woolwich’s existing debit card with which purchases can be made.

Woolwich account holder Steve White is furious. “I chose the Woolwich savings account on the basis of its appearance in various best buy tables,” he said.

“I did not expect a little way down the road to be dumped into some inferior product with a big bank that I don’t even particularly like. It’s now time for me to compare savings accounts with other account providers, because I am definitely not staying with this one.”

He concluded: “I really felt in this day and age when consumers are supposed to be kings that we would at least get the option of where our own money was deposited. But I suppose Barclays’ profits are so vast that they don’t particularly care about what we think.”