But the expectation is that even companies which have so far resisted cutting bonuses, such as Standard Life and Prudential, may be forced to reduce payouts.. Abbey National, the mortgage bank, yesterday moved to attract more than one million customers from its larger rivals by introducing a current account with a market-leading interest rate of 3 per cent. However, Abbey’s main competitors immediately refused to follow suit.Current accounts provide retail banks’ main source of income as well as a captive audience for the sale of pensions, insurance and financial advice and Abbey aims to increase its current account customer base from 2.8 million to 4 million by the end of 2003. Royal Bank of Scotland/NatWest, HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds TSB control 70 per cent of the market and have 27 million customers.Andrew Pople, Abbey’s retail banking chief, said the timing of the move reflected the introduction in November of an automated switching system for current accounts. “We expect a significant jump in non-interest income through cross-selling other financial products,” he said.There is no formal guarantee about how the 3 per cent rate will change.The Consumers’ Association applauded Abbey’s move but voiced doubts over the likelihood of a shake up in the market.

The Big Four banks, which pay 0.1 per cent on current account balances, said they had no plans to imitate Abbey’s move.Abbey customers are also being offered another account with an overdraft interest rate of only 8.7 per cent. Existing customers will be transferred to either of the two offerings only if they contact their branch and will be charged £10 for switching between them. Those opting for the account paying higher interest on credit balances will see their overdraft rate rise from 9.9 per cent to 14.9 per cent.Abbey said the moves would cost it £25m this year, mostly due to the higher credit interest payments. Less than one-third of current account customers use their authorised overdraft.Peter Toeman, analyst at Morgan Stanley, said: “Abbey’s progress on current accounts has been lacklustre, with poor customer acquisition rates. It is more likely to succeed now.”Abbey shares closed up 16.5p at 1,000p.. Two of the UK’s largest business organisations will poll their members this summer over their views on Britain’s membership of the euro.

The outcome of the polls will be used to formulate the organisations’ official policies on the euro.The most recent surveys from the BCC and EEF as well as from the CBI have shown that business is split down the middle.Malik Thahid, a spokesman for the BCC, which plans to carry out its poll in May or June, said: “This will be an interesting exercise because it will give us our position. If it is 70 per cent for the euro then that will be our position.”The EEF said it would survey its membership in September. Stephen Radley, its chief economist, said that the timing allowed companies to register the impact of the launch of the euro as a real currency.A shift in policy by the two organisations would come as a huge boost to the pro-euro campaign, which has been dented by reports of splits in the Cabinet on govern- ment policy.However the CBI said it still has no plans to ballot its members on the issue. Although the CBI initially took a strongly pro-euro line, it has taken a more neutral line recently, reflecting a divide in opinion amongst its members.Yesterday a spokesman said: “We are working to the Government’s timetable so we are standing ready to poll members when we get a clear indication that a referendum may be in the offing.”Meanwhile, a report from PricewaterhouseCoopers has warned that the economies of the UK and euroland would start to diverge in 2002.. Enterprise Oil yesterday revealed it had rejected a takeover bid, believed to have been made by Eni of Italy at the end of last year.

Other likely suitors are thought to include the US players Anadarko Petroleum and Amerada Hess.Enterprise was forced to put out a short statement, which did not name its suitor, by the Takeover Panel after its shares moved up sharply in the last four trading days. Enterprise shares had been on a downward trend since hitting 657p in February 2001. An industry source said the approach from the Italian oil giant was unsolicited and unwelcome and it was pitched at a level the board found easy to reject unanimously. “The approach came with a possible price range and various conditions.