Massive victory for Bank Charge reclaiming News Article Discussion

jay3_2

Head-Out-Of-Sand wrote: »

Only if you believe that banking was free in the first place though! :rotfl:

I think there's an argument to say that banks will be reluctant to levy high charges on standard banking, because if all the banks charged, then one offered free accounts, imagine the stampede to that one?

Well put it this way, I earn interest on my free bank account at present. How long do you think banks can afford to run a 100% free service while paying me interest as well? They will have to find new ways of generating profit.

scotty1971

i thought this thread was about the bank charges decision today

nickmack

scotty1971 wrote: »

i thought this thread was about the bank charges decision today

It is. Martin has already asked the conversation to be kept on topic.

When I have time later, I will be (re)moving posts as appropriate to keep the thread on the subject of todays decision.

jay3_2

Head-Out-Of-Sand wrote: »

I suppose that's the basis of the whole argument really isn't it - whether the charges are a service rather than a penalty.

And I don't think I'd be too happy if Tesco tried to charge me £40 for spuds!! But I guess the point is, they can't force me to buy the spuds. (Although in reality I get them at Aldi anyway )

Not an Aldi convert!! I must say, they seem to have the politest customers I've ever met!

Re: penalty vs service charge - yes, agreed, it is the crux of the legal debate. But here's a thought: my local council can give me what I might argue is an unfairly large penalty for parking my car in the wrong place, even if my leaving it there doesn't actually cost them the full extent of that charge (and there are numerous other examples out there in the world of commerce - don't get me started on "booking fees"!).

Head-Out-Of-Sand

Fair point. I guess we'll just have to wait and see whether the OFT think they're fair or not we can but hope!

And don't get me started with booking fees either..."We're going to charge you £3...for...er...giving us £40 for a concert ticket..." QUE??!!

marsupial_mama

jay3 wrote: »

Well put it this way, I earn interest on my free bank account at present. How long do you think banks can afford to run a 100% free service while paying me interest as well? They will have to find new ways of generating profit.

Well, they pay you a much smaller percentage of interest then they charge to whomever then they lend your deposited money.
Just one point, there are other ways they are generating money

marsupial_mama

Head-Out-Of-Sand wrote: »

Fair point. I guess we'll just have to wait and see whether the OFT think they're fair or not we can but hope!

And don't get me started with booking fees either..."We're going to charge you £3...for...er...giving us £40 for a concert ticket..." QUE??!!

I hate that. If they agree to take credit card payments, then they should bear the cost! This should be illegal!

Hasn't ebay forbidden sellers' charging paypal fees? Same thing here

brightonman123

fight fight! burn down the banks! lol

A.Jones

Maybe we will start seeing real charges coming into place like everyone wants .... You go to the cashier in a bank to pay in a cheque instead of doing a bank transfer or using an automated machine... Then you pay for it. If it takes them 2 minutes to process something for you, they charge you £1. Each extra 2 minutes or part thereof, charge you another £1. That seems about right considering cashier salary, High Street rent, heating, lighting, etc.

Head-Out-Of-Sand

A.Jones wrote: »

Maybe we will start seeing real charges coming into place like everyone wants .... You go to the cashier in a bank to pay in a cheque instead of doing a bank transfer or using an automated machine... Then you pay for it. If it takes them 2 minutes to process something for you, they charge you £1. Each extra 2 minutes or part thereof, charge you another £1. That seems about right considering cashier salary, High Street rent, heating, lighting, etc.

But it benefits them for us to place our money in their banks - surely the interest they earn off our payments kinda pays for this! (I'll admit I'm not any kind of genius when it comes to working out how much a bank earns/spends on me!) IMHO, the charges don't reflect their costs. They reflect their greed.