Banks Threaten ATM Charges

rb10

oxenryd wrote: »

I'm not sure about TescoBank either. I mean a customer getting a £35 charge for, let's say, a bounced cheque could then decide he wants nothing to do with them ever again, meaning they have lost a lifetime of that customer's shopping

But the other side of the coin is that using your TescoBank card every time you make a purchase will really keep their brand name at the forefront of your mind ... so when you're wondering where to go shopping, which name will pop into your head?

dzug1

97trophy wrote: »

Not entirely true.

Girobank, RBS always offered free banking. Then Midland joined their ranks in 1984.

I had free banking from RBS in 1983 - I remember it well.

Girobank wasn't always free banking. When they first started they did charge for cheques. I remember it - well, not well, but I remember it.

And free banking came about largely because banks started selling other products and could cross subsidise.

gt94sss2

rb10 wrote: »

I really don't think this can happen.

If my bank charged even a tiny amount for either of these two services, then I'd be gone in a flash.

Surely although internet banking must cost a fortune to run, it must save a lot of money, in terms of people getting paper-free statements, and must also reduce queries to the bank, as people will check their own balances and transactions by phone or in a branch instead.

Banks in some countries charge you for internet banking, paper statements and checking your balance or making a transaction..

They just tend to charge less, if you do it online..

Regards
Sunil

EarthBoy

97trophy wrote: »

Girobank & RBS always offered free banking.....

Oh no they didn't! Not always.

The RBS group history page states:

1974
RBS constituent Williams & Glyn's Bank is the first British clearing bank to offer free banking for personal customer accounts in credit.

http://www.rbs.com/about-rbs/g2/heritage/our-innovations/products-and-services.ashx

So they certainly didn't offer free banking before 1974 (and even after that it was only Williams & Glyn's, not the rest of the RBS group. Perhaps "always" only goes back to 1983 when you opened your account?

EarthBoy

And not forgetting that before 1971 the government charged stamp duty on all cheques. It was 2d, (two old pence). So nobody could possibly have had free banking then.

Is anybody on this forum old enough to remember stamp duty on cheques?

apt

Those were very different times in which many people did not have or need a current account. Their wages or pensions were paid in cash and rent, insurance etc was collected in cash from the door. We're not going back to those days and even in the 1970s the big four banks had to shift policy when Williams & Glyn, Coop, Anglia Building society etc. began offering fee-free current accounts.

Inactive

never-in-doubt wrote: »

Ahh mate, Tesco is the British Consumers choice - I for one rate them highly and would love to see them take on the banks, moreso cos they have the financial clout to do it. Look at the bigger picture with both companies:

I detest Tesco and to a lesser degree Virgin, so not my " Consumer choice ".;)

never-in-doubt

Inactive wrote: »

I detest Tesco and to a lesser degree Virgin, so not my " Consumer choice ".;)

Yea but mate, thats only cos you're a snob and these firms are below you :rotfl::rotfl:

My weekly visit to Tesco is a family day out -

mikeyhinde

From what I've seen of Tesco Bank's vision (and I assume Virgin as well) they are getting in to take advantage of the large margins that are currently available on credit products due to low base rates. Where they have strong cash flows they can fund Mortgage/Unsecured Loan/Credit Card lending at a low cost but high margin.

Where current accounts tend to be more a loss leader to get a customer on the books (at traditional banks) and then cross sell to. Certainly with Tesco Bank this isn't needed because they already have the customers on the books. c15million of them in the form of Clubcard holders to be more accurate. So why would they push a product that is likely to produce uneconomical returns?

Anyway OP - there is no way banks will put up blanket charges for these, use of own-brand ATMs will always be free (similar to US model). But I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before the customer is charged for using competitor ATMs... if not by their own bank then by the bank that uses the ATMs (why should they offer free withdrawals for customers of other banks?)

Due to the nature of inter-bank charging for customers using competitors ATMs there are several banks that are paying out millions of pounds a month. I can't imagine they will want to continue haemorrhaging this ad infinitum!

rb10

mikeyhinde wrote: »

But I'm sure that it's only a matter of time before the customer is charged for using competitor ATMs... if not by their own bank then by the bank that uses the ATMs (why should they offer free withdrawals for customers of other banks?)

If I withdraw cash from an HSBC ATM using my Halifax account, then HSBC will make a charge for me using that ATM. At the moment, Halifax pay HSBC's charge on my behalf.

So the ATM operators certainly don't offer free withdrawals - they are making money from it.

The only question is whether banks will continue to pay that charge for us, or if they'll start to pass it on to the customer.