"Ending free bank accounts 'fair'"

PosterBoy77

Justamum wrote:

I suppose you could, theoretically, refuse to repay a loan as they haven't loaned you anything in the first place.

I could, but I only have savings and am always on the lookout for the best savings rates. If banks are going to use my money to lend against, at least they can pay me as much as possible!

gt94sss2

Almost 20,000 customers have closed bank accounts at First Direct since it started charging a monthly fee in February.

The telephone and online bank, which is owned by HSBC and has more than 1.2m customers, charges current account customers £10 a month if they do not pay in £1,500 a month or maintain an average balance of that amount.

About 195,000 customers could avoid the fee only if they paid in more or took out another product such as a savings account.

In an interview with the FT, Chris Pilling, chief executive, said it had been envisaged that more than 85 per cent of customers would not be charged.
Of the 195,000 people affected, “a reasonable minority” had closed accounts but he would not give numbers. It is understood that more than 10 per cent of that figure have left.

“What we have seen is a significant number of customers in that group have made changes in their current account and put more money in to achieve the balance,” Mr Pilling said. He added that fewer than 10 per cent of the 195,000 were paying the monthly charge.

First Direct has argued that it had to charge to provide the same level of service, even to customers who were not profitable for the bank.

At the start of the year, First Direct had about 40,000 dormant accounts (not used for three months) and more than 250,000 accounts that had fewer than 10 transactions a month.

Regards
Sunil