Great 'Work in a bank? What should we know' Hunt

I work for a well-known credit card and store card provider. As I work in the collections dept, I deal with fees and charges on a daily basis. The policy with refunding the late payment charges is simple: if the customer hasn't missed a payment in the past 12 months, the charge can be refunded. Otherwise, it shouldn't.

Refunds are, however, at my discretion. Therefore, if you are very rude, shout down the phone or try to insult me or the company, I tend to refuse to give a refund.

i work in one of the major high street banks. what exactly do u guys want to know?

claire

Hi,
Im a corporate relationship manager for Bank of Scotland so I deal mainly with high end business customers now. However I was a retail branch manager a few years ago so im well placed for a few questions on HBOS/Halifax also.

Couple of notes I can think of straight away:

• HBOS were the first bank to reduce their excess/returned item charges etc on all credit cards bank accounts etc to £12 well before the OFT were consulted
• We do not add mythical charges if you go over your limit whilst using your switch card etc (RBS do this and this can add another £20ish to your charges)
• All retail customers in RBS & BOS are credit scored when you open your account and your provided with limits of where the max amount of borrowing we would provide so your request is only referred if you are asking for something above this limit
• If you are cancelling a D/D you must do this at least 5 working days before it is due to be paid as it has already entered the process and will most likely be debited nexgt time anyway so watch out
• Please do bear with all Bank staff when opening accounts and money laundering checks as these requirements have been bestowed upon us by the FSA and we must adhere to these. We would prefer to just open an account but we cannot do so
• It also really annoys me when people go on and on about the amount of time it takes to clear chqs and why they cannot have their money sooner.. In actual fact the paying bank (i.e. the bank of the chq writer) provides the funds to the bank of the account the funds are being paid into well before it is debited from the writers account. Every bank works in this way and I do agree that this requires review but for all the banks as a whole.

Happy to help.
Cheers
M

Tootsie_Roll wrote: »

Hmm....So in effect bite the hand that feeds you, open yourself up for gross misconduct and generally behave in a very dishonorable way.

Money saving ???

How does "not breaking any [employer] rules" come under the category of "gross misconduct"?

IF YOU ARE AN RBS CUSTOMER, PLEASE READ THIS!

Some of you will be more surprised than others to read this! When your branch cold calls you and 'invites' you in for a "Customer Service Review", beware! This is not intended in any way to benefit you, but rather the bank, who will attempt to sell you RBS products. Let me talk you through the process.

1) The person who has called you has selected your name from a HUGE printout of branch customers, and has quickly checked from your account transactions and balances that you could be sold a loan, mortgage, credit card, etc. When they speak to you on the phone the will suggest that the CSR would be beneficial to you by saving you money. Sounds tempting, doesn't it? An appointment is arranged for you with one of our Customer Advisors.

2) Before you arrive for your appointment, the CA trawls your accounts for the past year. We can see details of all your switch transactions (eg how much you spent in Ann Summers last month...) and direct debits, salaries paid etc. It is very easy to tell if you have loans, mortgages, credit cards elsewhere. The CA will then work out what they will try to sell you.

3) At your CSR appointment you will be asked to give details of all your outgoings and debts owed, including other loans and store cards, just to firm up the info the bank has on you. They will then try an tempt you into buying RBS products. The CAs earn commission on what they sell to you and are targeted using a points system. At the top of the points tree are mortgages and loans. At the very bottom are instant access savings account. Guess what you'll be pressurised to buy?

Bearing in mind that, with the occassional exception of mortgages, just about all financial products are better sourced away from your high street, there is no need for you to enter the CSR process. You can ensure this by writing to your branch and insisting that you are taken off the email/mail and telephone contact lists.

This approach has made RBS a lot of money, so much so that HBoS started doing something similar not so long ago. I would ask you not to take out your rigtheous indignation on bank staff. The CAs need the commission as, like all branch employees, they get paid a pittance. Most of the money made seems to go towards the astronomical salaries of Sir Fred Goodwin and the Bank's numerous directors.