Tour operators are having to work harder than ever to source secure banking facilities for customers’ deposits, according to Classic Collection Holidays managing director Nick Munday.
Munday said the banking crisis has shaken confidence and been compounded by a fall in interest rates to 1%.
Munday, whose company has a £7 million deposit fund, said: “I spend two hours a day looking at where to put money for it to be safe.”
The company now works with seven banks.
He said: “A year ago we were chasing the highest rates of interest there was never a thought banks could go down the toilet.”
Bank of Ireland and the Allied Irish Bank, which are to receive a £6 billion government aid package, are traditionally used by travel companies. “These banks have been recipients of large amounts of the industry’s money,” he said.
Barclays Commercial head of travel Chris Lee said shopping around for rates was not new, but warned: “If customers find good rates at smaller banks we advise them not to just look at the reward [interest rate] in isolation but to consider the bank’s credit grading and its risk profile.”