Bank Charges: Fine v Payout Poll

I voted b, as I'd rather have a payment refused and have to find another way of paying than be charged £35 for going £1 over my overdraft limit. Wouldn't embarrass me to have a crad refused - people with me wouldn't know why, and when I got my last debit card it was tempremental and regularly got refused for no reason anyway! But I can see the problems a lot of people would have with such rigidity.

I consider myself one of the lucky ones - I'm only 24, so would probably be expected to be zillions in debt and not bothered about it. The only debt I have is student loan, and I could pay it off tomorrow if needed, but I can make more money by not paying it off and saving the funds!

Because of this I am able to get credit, so have a CC for emergencies (like needing petrol on a sunday night when payday is monday) and my overdraft is for emergencies only as well. For all this I thank my parents, who taught me the value of money from a very young age - my mum (who worked for a high street bank) taught me all about the evils of debt. I now work for a company where I get paid around the same date each month, so can arrange DDs to be debited shortly after my pay goes in - most companies I've found to be agreeable to letting you have your DDs on a date you find works best for you, after all, they want your money.

I see 2 big problems with the 'no flexibility' idea though - firstly people like my brother (who gets paid 4 weekly instead of monthly) find it hard to arrange for DD payments - companies usually want their money monthly, not 4 weekly, and while they're willing to let you set up the DD initially for the date you want it, won't let you change the date each month. Also I really do believe the fixed rigidity being proposed would bring about the end of the cheque - most companies only accept cheques with a cheque guarantee card. I don't see how it would be possible to have a cheque guarantee card with a system of rigidity, as there would be no guarantee the money would be paid - no funds would equal no payment, and as most cheques aren't processed while the customer is there, this would be a big problem. Not for those of us who use debit cards, but for people like the elderly people I work with, most of whom seem to be scared of using debit or credit cards (especially terrified of chip and pin) and prefer their cheque books.

I think banks should honour the payment and charge for doing so.

What if it was your mortgage payment and you didn't want it paid? You'd then be in arrears with the mortgage, have to pay a missed payment charge and effect your credit rating.

Basically, a lot of people want something for nothing. People who didn't pay a bank charge, BUT, had their mortgage payment stopped - they'd be the first ones moaning that it wasn't paid (as the money will be there in a day's time). Yet it was there fault they didn't have enough money.

People rely too much on banks and technology to tell them how much they have or can spend. People need to go back to how it was in my parents time, when you budgeted and wrote everything down. So when woke up in the morning and checked your book, it would tell you exactly how much money was in your account and not what the bank was telling you.

People also need to stop spending beyond their means and realise that you shouldn't live in a 'want it now' world, but it should be more of a 'if i want it, I work and save for it'. Everything is too easily accesible and that is what is wrong with the world.

I've just had an extremely annoying situation with LTSB. Went overdrawn on a Friday but cos they charge you a monthly fee for going overdrawn PLUS a fixed amount every day including weekends, I got stung for £70 even though a transfer was already in the system and had cleared by Monday. I could not have gone into the bank on Saturday or Sunday to pay cash in so why should I be charged??? Not complaining about being charged (my fault for going overdrawn) but it is pretty tight charging you when they are closed and you can't do anything to rectify it.
Don't feel better even after that moan
FTR, I'd much prefer the "don't pay it and don't charge me" option.

shoust wrote: »

I think on the DD issue, I think the banks should help the customer by reserving a specified amount to pay of a wage(that isn't withdrawable) for DD's, that way DD's would be much more easier to handle, and the set and forget method would work.

You are surely joking. Why would the banks even WANT customers who are unable to calculate their available balances, let alone be prepared to do it for them. It is a matter for extreme regret in this country that wealth has been redistributed without any education in personal responsibility.