Barclays is planning to increase the fee on its popular Additions Active packaged current account to £180 a year.

The monthly charge for the account, which offers RAC breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance, and multi-trip family travel insurance, will rise from £14 to £15 from early next month. Barclays blamed the increase on "the cost of providing the overall package of services".

Pierre Williams, of Moneyexpert.com, the financial website, said: “Barclays’ move will make the account increasingly expensive versus rivals such as Abbey’s Reward Account which charges £10 a month while HSBC’s Plus Account charges £12.95 a month as does RBS’ Royalties Gold Account.

"Services such as car breakdown cover or lost key replacement can come in handy but at £180 a year you’ll almost be hoping for a breakdown to get your money’s worth."

The increase comes after the bank overhauled its current account range to encourage more people to take out Additions Active. (see How changes to bank accounts can affect you)

Barclays' move comes at a time when rivals are rushing to introduce similar fee-paying current accounts, with Moneyexpert research showing a 40 per cent jump in packaged accounts available in the past year following new offerings from banks such as Co-op, Lloyds, and Citibank.