Bank Charges Consumers Charter

[Mid A 15]

The Robin Hood in me draws your attention to this:


http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/BankCharter/

[jtaylor]

As someone who manages my finances carefully, and hence don't pay any bank charges, i would resent having to pay a charge just for having a bank account, which will be the inevitable result.

If everything were charged for at the real cost, then maybe that'd be fair, but i'm sure many people would be unhappy - paying for every direct debit, deposit, withdrawal, statement, phone call etc - not good!

You choose to have a bank account, be agree to the terms - if you don't agree, then don't have the account! Simple as that. .

[Mid A 15]

As someone who manages my finances carefully, and hence don't pay any bank charges, i would resent having to pay a charge just for having a bank account, which will be the inevitable result.

If everything were charged for at the real cost, then maybe that'd be fair, but i'm sure many people would be unhappy - paying for every direct debit, deposit, withdrawal, statement, phone call etc - not good!

You choose to have a bank account, be agree to the terms - if you don't agree, then don't have the account! Simple as that. . .

Do you choose though in this day and age or are you in reality compelled to have a bank account?

Employers insist that you have a bank account or else you don't get paid! Many insurance and utility companies will only accept payment by direct debit which again means that you need a bank account.

It seems to me that the "choice" (such as it is) is not whether or not you have a bank account but which particular member of the price fixing cartel you go to!

If bank accounts were truly voluntary I would agree with your thinking but as I've tried to demonstrate they are not.

For the record I don't pay bank charges either because I also maintain my account in credit but that doesn't mean that I don't question the morality and excess amount of penalty charges. Remember these are in addition to the interest that the banks also charge on overdrawn accounts.

[Katharine]

As some of you know, I work in the cash office at the Ffestiniog Railway. We get through vast amounts of (silver) change and when I started to look closely into bank charges I was amazed at the amount charged for obtaining it from the bank (about 1.75%). I decided to appeal to the railway supporters to bring me change in an effort to save bank charges. I have been delighted at the response, some have said to me that it is the first time they have ever been able to respond to a request from the railway.

We get the tea money from one university's Physics Department. The Professor concerned uses it as his way of saving for his trips to N Wales. He emails me telling me when he is coming and how much he is bringing; I can then give him folding money to replace the heavy silver. Apparently the secretaries are very happy as they don't have to deal with the piles of loose change, so a win-win situation.

[sejintenej]

In the bank where I worked in the 1970's to end of the 1990's we did an exercise on costs. This was around 1996 or early 1997 (so add inflation to get today's prices).

To compose, type (on a PC), print, correct, sign and mail a single A4 page letter cost £17 before we amortised any equipment, bought printer ink - but it did include salaries, pension contributions , rent, rates etc for a junior member of staff. Two of us (the internal auditor and I) didn't believe the result - too high) but when we double checked we got a higher figure.

Too think that the government is insisting on pensioners having their pensions paid into bank accounts rather than being paid through post offices! My wife's pension per annum is about the projected monthly bank charge for a current account.

[Mid A 15]

In the bank where I worked in the 1970's to end of the 1990's we did an exercise on costs. This was around 1996 or early 1997 (so add inflation to get today's prices).

To compose, type (on a PC), print, correct, sign and mail a single A4 page letter cost £17 before we amortised any equipment, bought printer ink - but it did include salaries, pension contributions , rent, rates etc for a junior member of staff. Two of us (the internal auditor and I) didn't believe the result - too high) but when we double checked we got a higher figure.

Too think that the government is insisting on pensioners having their pensions paid into bank accounts rather than being paid through post offices! My wife's pension per annum is about the projected monthly bank charge for a current account.

Presumably the economies of scale created by lots of letters would reduce that figure considerably though David.

[sejintenej]

In the bank where I worked in the 1970's to end of the 1990's we did an exercise on costs. This was around 1996 or early 1997 (so add inflation to get today's prices).

To compose, type (on a PC), print, correct, sign and mail a single A4 page letter cost £17 before we amortised any equipment, bought printer ink - but it did include salaries, pension contributions , rent, rates etc for a junior member of staff. Two of us (the internal auditor and I) didn't believe the result - too high) but when we double checked we got a higher figure.

Too think that the government is insisting on pensioners having their pensions paid into bank accounts rather than being paid through post offices! My wife's pension per annum is about the projected monthly bank charge for a current account.

Presumably the economies of scale created by lots of letters would reduce that figure considerably though David.

Certainly; that applies to a "one off" letter intended to respond to a customer's enquiry. If you have templates as most banks do then the computer signs them, they don't answer your query and no human sees them. You pay your money and take your choice.

I was trying to make the point that running a bank is a very expensive business; we needed several staff members approved by the powers that be and on huge salaries because they were "approved" simply and only to handle government / official bureaucracy - over 20% of our staff who still had to be paid for by customers. That is a non-discussable requirement and the attitude of the authorities seemed to be "to hell with the customers - we're OK"..

[J.R.]

As someone who manages my finances carefully, and hence don't pay any bank charges, i would resent having to pay a charge just for having a bank account, which will be the inevitable result.

If everything were charged for at the real cost, then maybe that'd be fair, but i'm sure many people would be unhappy - paying for every direct debit, deposit, withdrawal, statement, phone call etc - not good!

You choose to have a bank account, be agree to the terms - if you don't agree, then don't have the account! Simple as that. . .

I'm afraid in this day and age, you don't have any choice, JT !

I doubt any firms pay their workers in cash anymore.

I have a bank account purely for paying direct debits - Nothing else.

Both my pensions and other allowances are paid into a post office card bank account with is free, although it has limited uses..

The last time I paid a large bank charge for a DD that was rejected, I stormed into my branch and finished up by saying in a very loud voice........

'At least Dick Turpin had the courtesy to wear a mask when he robbed people !'

Needless to say that didn't go down too well.