Please give your feedback on personal current accounts

Alpine_Star

jambosans wrote: »

I'm not sure if the last post is directed at me? I think I've made it clear from my reply, that I was not referring specifically to the debate surrounding whether or not informal overdraft requests should be an opt-in or opt-out service. I was commenting more generally on the use of charges for the cross-subsidy of banking

Yeah sure you were

typos1

jambosans wrote: »

You don't need the bank to keep track of your spending. Your bank may provide the tools to help, but no system is fool proof, so instead of soley relying on the bank you should be keeping track with your own records (I have a very simple spreadsheet for example).

Lol, what so you take your laptop shopping and if you see something you like you place it on the counter and check your spreadsheet?!

Its 2010, balances should be updated instantaineously, withdrawals and payments, it costs nothing save the cost of internet connection-one computer phones another checks money is there, payment actioned if it is payment not if it isnt no charges for anyone, no possibility of going over accidently-all done by the internet. Most people ,certainly large companies, pay one charge for month to go online, so should be no charge. End of, no debate. Anything less is profiteering.

And if they moan about the cost of the software for the computers then they should go open source and get it free.

Its currently possible to have a payment come through months after you made it. Its simply very inconvenient to carry round hordes of receipts or a laptop to try and keep up with your balance in this day and age when everything is done by card.

izools

leemack wrote: »

I think what jambosans seems to be saying is that they are very happy that other people struggling on the breadline and paying loads of charges mean that jambosans gets free banking, because others are paying for it. If the less well off didn't pay charges then banks say they would have to charge for banking to make money, or charge for cash machine use.

Quite frankly why should there be a problem in a computer age with your current balance showing exactly the money you have left available taking into account pending transactions, if there is no money available then payments should not be made. no payment=no charge, as has been said before you shouldn't get charged for not doing something. I would not mind paying £5 a month for this type of service and piece of mind, £10 a month is too much.

If that's the sort of banking a customer needs, due to whatever reason, the need to open either:

1. a Barclays Casn Card account (Full Auth VISA)
2. a Co-Operative Cash Card account (Full Auth VISA)
3. Halifax / BoS EasyCash (Full Auth Electron)

Simples

EDIT: If you hold a Full Current Account with Barclays you can ask them to send you an "Electronic" Connect Card which is also a full auth VISA so if you don't want a basic account, but do want balances updated immediately, the Barclays Current Account with "Electronic" VISA will do the job quite nicely

leemack

Jambosans, you appear to have an inability to see this matter from anybody else's viewpoint. You may be good at budgeting, but others are not. I can see that people who take pride an an ability to budget and keep their accounts in order feel that there is no need to change the status quo and feel self satisfied that they don't have a problem.

What most people are asking for is not for special treatment, or for the bank to manage their money, but for a banking system that makes money management easier.

I disagree that intelligence necessarily means a person can or can't budget, I know very intelligent people who have great difficulty budgeting and managing their finances. It's not really the issue is it. The issue is can the current banking system be made easier and fairer. I'm not saying that if a person has an unauthorised overdraft that the bank should not charge them, some of the ideas people have been putting forward are to help prevent the unauthorised overdraft in the first place.

Unfortunately, when someone like youself doesn't want change, believing 'I'm all right Jack', there is little that anyone can do to try to reason with you, you show little empathy or understanding.

And I don't think I presumed, I think I understand very well what you are saying.

leemack

izools wrote: »

If that's the sort of banking a customer needs, due to whatever reason, the need to open either:

1. a Barclays Casn Card account (Full Auth VISA)
2. a Co-Operative Cash Card account (Full Auth VISA)
3. Halifax / BoS EasyCash (Full Auth Electron)

Simples

EDIT: If you hold a Full Current Account with Barclays you can ask them to send you an "Electronic" Connect Card which is also a full auth VISA so if you don't want a basic account, but do want balances updated immediately, the Barclays Current Account with "Electronic" VISA will do the job quite nicely

Thanks, I'll look into those for her.

jambosans

Alpine_Star wrote: »

Yeah sure you were

Congratulations, a beautiful counter argument.

It's not worth replying to both yourself and leemack, as my rather simple points are being completely mis-represented (more so from leemack's interpretation of things).

jambosans

typos1 wrote: »

Lol, what so you take your laptop shopping and if you see something you like you place it on the counter and check your spreadsheet?!

I wouldn't be such a dolt as to buy something without at least some pre-conceived notion of what's in my account. If I'm really not sure I will check an ATM, or call Telephone Banking.

As for the rest of your post, no matter how robust and well designed a system is, no computer system is 100% fool proof, so there will always be a margin for "exceptions" (i.e. card payments which debit months later). Being blas! and saying "it's 2010" therefore all computer systems should be full proof is nonsense. I agree things can improve, but I don't find the current system so inherently flawed that it needs major change.

Alpine_Star

jambosans wrote: »

Congratulations, a beautiful counter argument.

It's not worth replying to both yourself and leemack, as my rather simple points are being completely mis-represented (more so from leemack's interpretation of things).

You might be as slippery as a fish but you're not short on entertainment value!

rictus123

Rbs...not too bad really just too easy to get credit from! Good simple online banking and like the saver linked to the ISA, its just ashame its such a poor intrest rate!

Alpine_Star

typos1 wrote: »

It should be no available balance=no money out, no payments made, no charge.

Exactly.

And it is precisely this lack of control that doesn't quite chime with those who think it is totally up to the account holder as to how their account is run. In a charge notification letter I saw recently it stated quite clearly that ''The bank manages your account''.

In a recent Which? poll 46% of people wanted payment instructions where insufficient funds were available automatically declined without charge - much in the same way as when an attempted call on a pre-pay phone is made when you're out of credit. And according to MSE Wendy in an MSE poll the figure was 92%.

The OFT recently said that in discussions with the Government and the banks on opting out, they were hearing ''encouraging noises''. Although the campaign would prefer to see opting in, IMO one way or another this will happen.