How will reclaiming bank charges impact banking discussion

TANZARELLI

Graham_Devon wrote: »

Dragon (apt name).

You really are taking the pee now and not seeing the full picture.

Those people you described are the very people reclaiming in the long run will hit the most. It's quite simple if you think about the full picture. I'm sure they will love charges of £120 a year.

And loans are cheaper than tens of charges btw. Thought you would recognise that too, but no.

Again I have to disagree as I really think that this would be better than £35 a time charges which often are multiples in any given month.

I don't have time to respond to all the posts from this afternoon as it would take to long to do so. I have more important things which I need to get done.

There has been some worthwhile postings which Ivanopinion and Graham_Devon you could really learn a few things from.

We seem to be going around in circles here so perhaps you need to pop yourself of down the £ shop and save a few quid.

Tanz

TANZARELLI

DL,

I also am a member of the Worcester Credit Union and save regularly every month with them.

IvanOpinion

Dragonlady wrote: »

We have to educate the children and we have to offer an alternative to the loan sharks and banks.

That is the crux .. I have on many occasions suggested we should get rid of some of the useless deadwood subjects being taught in school and teach our children financial responsibility. At the minute we live in a me-me-me society that must have everything 'now' .. that is the lesson we are teaching our children ... don't worry about it, just borrow the money. and then pay it back later ... and if you can't afford to pay it back then there are some alternatives where you can simply forget about it.

I keep seeing statistics about how few people are planning properly for their retirement or even for a short term rainy day .. they seem to think the government or somebody else should bail them out .. the problem is that everybody else is fighting to keep their own heads above the water.

The most worrying thing is is that we are on the precipice of a very deep recession because we have spent our salaries for the next few years. Credit has to be reeled in, but it has to be done slowly .. possibly over a period of 5 years (or so).

Interest rates on the rise may actually be a good thing ... we have had it far too easy for too long now and people have either never experienced or forgotten what interest rates of 14.5% were like. Despite over the years having worked from struggling to pay bills and on some occasions put food on the table to being financially secure and while I would benefit from high interest rates, I do not want to see them going back up to the sort of figures we had 15 years ago because it is not in the wider interest, but if credit is nor curtailed they could well continue to rise (I have heard a couple of analysts predicting 10% in a couple of years ... who knows?)

Ivan

Mark7799

TANZARELLI wrote: »

Again I have to disagree as I really think that this would be better than £35 a time charges which often are multiples in any given month.

Tanz

But what about those who manage to keep their accounts in order? They may already be struggling to make ends meet but by careful budgeting have managed to run their accounts without going overdrawn and incurred no charges. Maybe they live just on pensions but have taken the trouble to learn good budgeting skills. How will they feel when being told they now have to pay an extra £120 per year?

Dragonlady_2

Mark7799 wrote: »

But what about those who manage to keep their accounts in order? They may already be struggling to make ends meet but by careful budgeting have managed to run their accounts without going overdrawn and incurred no charges. Maybe they live just on pensions but have taken the trouble to learn good budgeting skills. How will they feel when being told they now have to pay an extra £120 per year?

Mark,

There is no easy solution at the moment. This is where the Government will have to bite bullet regarding pensions and banking. There is a workable solution for this, but without getting the politicians involved it wont happen. The banks could have a good dose of social conscience and they can identify who are on a pension, these are the accounts which could be made exempt from a service fee.

It is change in mindset and Grey Power does have a strong voice. This is where we havve to get proactive now.

We are talking hypothetically. The first bank to do this for the Silver Surfers will certainly set the benchmark for others to follow.

It's called Social Conscience. With a will the banks can do this and if it takes you an me to start a groundswell, it will happen.

I am the woman who got out one Sunday night with a can of white paint and painted a pedestrian crossing across a mina highway, after two years of lobbying got no-where. my one act of vandalism, had a legal pedestrian crossing gazetted within six weeks. it can be done.

IvanOpinion

Mark7799 wrote: »

But what about those who manage to keep their accounts in order? They may already be struggling to make ends meet but by careful budgeting have managed to run their accounts without going overdrawn and incurred no charges. Maybe they live just on pensions but have taken the trouble to learn good budgeting skills. How will they feel when being told they now have to pay an extra £120 per year?

Mark, I don't think that todays pensioners will be the problem because the majority I know are already very careful with money and seem to know (instinctively or otherwise) how to budget. It is the next couple of generations coming up behind them that are the problem.

I would also agree with Dragonlady that pensioners (and everybody else) will be afforded accounts without having to pay a fee. However those accounts will be very limited in their capabilities. Maybe some banks will continue tp offer more flexible accounts without charges .. however, looking at what is currently happening the charges are already being built into the interest rates.

People need to shop around a lot more.

Ivan

TANZARELLI

Ivan I agree that people need to shop around more for better deals in regards to banking, I myself should even take head of this also.

However our banking IMHO is not free currently as there is a number of charges which are hidden already in the system including as you say interest rates. We seem to be forgetting that the banking industry is a competitive marketplace currently and for one bank to introduce (I know first direct does already, I think) charges on accounts then the consumers would vote with their feet and switch to another bank. This is where I think they will introduce other stealth charges in other ways. However saying that I don't think the fact this is hapening or is going to happen means the blame can be laid purely at the door of bank charge re-claimers as the banks IMHO would have done this anyway. Afterall as you and GD have pointed out previously, the banks are businesses aimed at making a profit from providing a service.

The point is though that they are not allowed to do this from penalty charges as this is irrecoverable at common law.

Tanz

sinizterguy

TANZARELLI wrote: »

Tanz........

Your entire reply is based solely on your opinion that the charges are unfair. As there hasn't been a case that has gone to court and proven that it is unfair, I support the banks continuing to charge.

lindilou39

sinizterguy wrote: »

Your entire reply is based solely on your opinion that the charges are unfair. As there hasn't been a case that has gone to court and proven that it is unfair, I support the banks continuing to charge.

Thats because the banks dont want to disclose the true cost.

sinizterguy

lindilou39 wrote: »

Thats because the banks dont want to disclose the true cost.

And what business goes around telling their customers the true cost of anything ?

Banks are a business and you as a customer choose to use them. They are not a free public service.