Please give your feedback on personal current accounts

ProfessorAlice

I'm fed up only being contacted by my bank when they notice sums of money going in to my account. Banks are in it it to win new business - that's all they do. They sell their own products, are usually uncompetitive and in my personal view some practices border on sharp e.g. messages left on phone saying please contact your bank manager urgently.... this in response to money transferred into the account.

My gripe is that their purpose needs to be made clear - e.g. advertising that they offer personal banking services should ethically mean just that - and cover whole market advice.

That would be responsible!

robbyn

Here are my problems with banks:

1. Limited period bonuses. They should not be permissable.
2. When opening a new account there are linked options for Internal product notification. It is always joined to advertising from external companies.
3. Very time consuming opening savings accounts. Why can't I be vetted by one central organisation which is referred to when I want to open a new account. I would be happy for them to have wide powers to check on me. Alternatively why can't my quoting another UK bank as a reference be sufficient for other banks

johnnie_consho

lloyds tsb liscard wallasey
i need to speak to customer services and every time i have rung it has been answered by a bank employee in the third world..once i managed to speak to someone in ireland

johnnie_consho

izools wrote: »

Every time I call Lloyds TSB I get through to someone in the UK. Which Lloyds TSB are you with!?

lloyds tsb liscard wallasey
i need to speak to customer services and every time i have rung it has been answered by a bank employee in the third world..once i managed to speak to someone in ireland

dots_thots

I'd like to see banks actually safe-keeping money in the form of sight and time deposits with 100% reserve banking, or what Laurence J. Kotlikoff calls limited purpose banking.

What we have now is a system where they run on confidence because the money simply isn't there and they get to make a profit on phantom money, precisely why they shouldn't be allowed to charge for banking currently.

I've written an open letter to Martin about this and other facets of the banking system. I'd really appreciate people reading it, because the issues affect us all and I didn't wish to post it to the forum twice.

You can find it at the link below:

forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?p=29346383#post29346383 - An open letter to Martin Lewis

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malc_b

Faster payments should be implemented by all banks up to the limits of the system. Until that happens the executives of that bank should be subject to a supertax of 10% on their earnings! That should speed the process along.

Rules should be published. I'm think here of Halifax which had a secret limit on FP, try to break it and FP was disabled for ~10 days, for security they claimed but it stopped people using FP didn't it. There should be no secret rules.

Banks should make efforts to inform up before any charges by all possible means. In this day and age of SMS, email there is no reason for not sending a instant warning of going overdrawn, with or without an agreed overdraft. Halifax only will send SMS if going overdrawn without an agreed overdraft yet it makes sense to have the cover of an agreed overdraft even if you don't use it. It case you forget a payment it's a lot cheaper than a non agreed. Hence there should be a blanket rule that all charges should be informed by all means the bank has, SMS, email, and the normal letter. All of which are done by machine anyway.

I'd also like to see the ability to set automatic top up of current accounts so you could keep money in savings accounts, but in effect that would be the same as decent interest on current accounts.

Kashim

I would like to see the banking system completely changed.

1. Bank should only be allowed to lend the money they have in deposit, and not utilise fractional reserve banking i.e. lend £10 if they have only £1. They should not be given the power to create money from thin air i.e. the £9 they are lending, because that £9 does not exist and also does not link to any assets.

2. They should have 2 tier accounts
a) Current account - the bank should not be able to touch this money to lend to other people i.e. this should be restricted cash to them.
b) Saving account - this is where the customer entrusts the bank to invest in ethically managed businesses, with the risk of the investor losing money as well as gaining profits.

3. Banks should not charge interest for lending, instead they should be investors in the business or a property purchase where they would share the risks and reward. Ideally it should be nationalised and acting as a service provider rather than a money making scheme for the rich and subjugate the poor.

Look at it this way, it is generally the rich who are in a position to lend and it is generally the poor who borrow, and look what's happening. The rich is made richer and the poor made poorer.

I know it is highly unlikely that this will ever happen, because the bankers and financiers actually have the power and not the politicians

Regards, Kashim

kiggy

I would also like to add that Banks after admitting that they know there are scams - removing money from PEOPLES accounts, which they continue to allow the money to be kept paying out to these scammers with NO help to the individual who is trying to stop this happening to their account. AND THAT IS AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN ALERTED BY INDIVIDUALS. THE BANKS KNOW THIS AND TELL THE INDIVIDUALS. THERE IS NO PROTECTION. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED Here

Inactive

kiggy wrote: »

I would also like to add that Banks after admitting that they know there are scams - removing money from PEOPLES accounts, which they continue to allow the money to be kept paying out to these scammers with NO help to the individual who is trying to stop this happening to their account. AND THAT IS AFTER THEY HAVE BEEN ALERTED BY INDIVIDUALS. THE BANKS KNOW THIS AND TELL THE INDIVIDUALS. THERE IS NO PROTECTION. SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED Here

Not quite sure what you mean by all of that?

No bank has ever " removed money " from any account that I hold without my authority.

fedupfarmer

My parents have a joint account with Lloyds, but recently when mum tried to talk to someone about the account, she was told they would only speak to dad and if he allowed it she could be there!