Digital challenger Marcus by Goldman Sachs launched in the UK in September 2018 and since then, it has notched up 850,000 savings customers.

For existing customers, the change in the terms and conditions take effect from 31 July 2023, while for newbies coming on board since 28 June, the updated T&Cs are already in place.

The biggest and most important changes relate to funding the account and when Marcus can temporarily block or close your account if it’s classed as ‘inactive’.

Any customer who hasn’t accessed or used their account within three years – such as logging in, making payments or withdrawals – could see Marcus temporarily block your account if you have cash sitting in it. If there’s no cash balance, then it can close your account.

This is a big cut from the previous five-year timeframe as part of its definition of inactive accounts.

Meanwhile, for any new customers joining Marcus, as well as the three-year inactive account term, they will also need to fund the account within 90 days of opening or Marcus can close your account.

Before the update of the T&Cs, there was no funding window applied.

Marcus confirmed that on its Cash ISA, it does not accept additional permitted subscriptions, allowing the spouse of a deceased saver an additional ISA allowance on top of their usual £20,000 ISA allowance.

A Marcus spokesperson, said: “We sometimes need to change our T&Cs to reflect changes in our business, the services we offer, the wider banking systems or the laws and regulations. These changes are necessary to allow us to keep accounts safe, help protect against fraud and ensure we continue to offer a competitive product.”

Marcus savings – YourMoney.com’s view

When Marcus first launched in September 2018, it offered a market-leading rate of 1.5% on its easy access account and it was consistently in the top tables, attracting hundreds of thousands of rate-starved savers.

However, since then, new challengers and competitors have pipped it to the top spot following 13 consecutive base rate hikes since December 2021.

On the plus side, the rate hikes are updated automatically for savers, but on its easy access account paying 3.75% AER / 3.68% gross, this includes a bonus rate of 0.34% gross, fixed for the first 12 months which savers actively have to opt in to get.

With more options for savers and better rates available elsewhere, such as 4.25% AER offered by Yorkshire Building Society, savers may not be using their Marcus account in the same way as when they first opened it.

Could this T&Cs update be a way for Marcus to get savers back into the habit of using their accounts, rather than having an idle customer database?