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Maths PhD student can't comprehend complicated bank charges
lanza
Posts: 195 Forumite
Helen Knapman
News Reporter
17 January 2012
MSE Banking & Saving guides
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Consumers using unauthorized overdrafts find it virtually impossible to calculate how much their bank or building society would charge them or compare fees between providers, research from consumer group Which? has found.
Consumers were asked to work out the cost of an unauthorised overdraft for four different banks using a mock bank statement. Despite one of the volunteers being a maths PhD student, not one got all the calculations right.
Which? says Lloyds TSB's fees are particularly confusing, with three different types of charges in addition to interest on the unplanned overdraft.
The research also reveals people could be paying five times as much a month for an unauthorised overdraft with one bank compared to another.
For example, out of the main providers, Which? says Nationwide charges the highest fees for customers making one payment from their account while overdrawn for just two days in a row in a month at £50, while Halifax charges the least at £10.
Nationwide stresses you need to be over £20 overdrawn to incur that fee.
Many banks also use expensive daily fees. RBS, for example, charges £6 a day on a £100 unauthorised overdraft.
'Comparing is a nightmare'
Dan Plant, MoneySavingExpert.com money analyst, says: "The banks shout loudly that they've cut and simplified charges since the bank charges test case, but this research reveals that comparing like-for-like is as easy as peeling carrots with a spoon.
"The fact that not even a Maths PhD student could fathom banks' maze of charges would be laughable, if it wasn't so outrageous.
"Anyone using unauthorised overdrafts should urgently take action to stop. Some of our top picks offer 0% interest for up to a year. Also by doing a proper budget and slamming down all bills, the hammer blow of these charges can be avoided."
Which? is calling on the Government to make the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which replaces the Financial Services Authority next year, a strong watchdog and not a weak "lapdog", to stand up to the banks.
Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith says: "While the Government has previously announced reforms to tackle unfair overdraft charges, they simply don't go far enough. It's extremely disappointing to find bank charges are still too high, too complex and impossible to compare.
"It's essential the Government gives the new financial regulator the powers to limit these charges and to challenge their complexity. We want to see the new regulator put consumer protection at the heart of everything it does.
"The regulator must be a strong, open and proactive watchdog that stands up to the banks, not a lapdog."
News Reporter
17 January 2012
MSE Banking & Saving guides
Email this
Consumers using unauthorized overdrafts find it virtually impossible to calculate how much their bank or building society would charge them or compare fees between providers, research from consumer group Which? has found.
Consumers were asked to work out the cost of an unauthorised overdraft for four different banks using a mock bank statement. Despite one of the volunteers being a maths PhD student, not one got all the calculations right.
Which? says Lloyds TSB's fees are particularly confusing, with three different types of charges in addition to interest on the unplanned overdraft.
The research also reveals people could be paying five times as much a month for an unauthorised overdraft with one bank compared to another.
For example, out of the main providers, Which? says Nationwide charges the highest fees for customers making one payment from their account while overdrawn for just two days in a row in a month at £50, while Halifax charges the least at £10.
Nationwide stresses you need to be over £20 overdrawn to incur that fee.
Many banks also use expensive daily fees. RBS, for example, charges £6 a day on a £100 unauthorised overdraft.
'Comparing is a nightmare'
Dan Plant, MoneySavingExpert.com money analyst, says: "The banks shout loudly that they've cut and simplified charges since the bank charges test case, but this research reveals that comparing like-for-like is as easy as peeling carrots with a spoon.
"The fact that not even a Maths PhD student could fathom banks' maze of charges would be laughable, if it wasn't so outrageous.
"Anyone using unauthorised overdrafts should urgently take action to stop. Some of our top picks offer 0% interest for up to a year. Also by doing a proper budget and slamming down all bills, the hammer blow of these charges can be avoided."
Which? is calling on the Government to make the new Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which replaces the Financial Services Authority next year, a strong watchdog and not a weak "lapdog", to stand up to the banks.
Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith says: "While the Government has previously announced reforms to tackle unfair overdraft charges, they simply don't go far enough. It's extremely disappointing to find bank charges are still too high, too complex and impossible to compare.
"It's essential the Government gives the new financial regulator the powers to limit these charges and to challenge their complexity. We want to see the new regulator put consumer protection at the heart of everything it does.
"The regulator must be a strong, open and proactive watchdog that stands up to the banks, not a lapdog."
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Comments
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yes that is correct. NOBODY CAN UNDERSTAND THESE ACCOUNTS NOW. Is this sinking in yet for some strange reason known as the desire for certainty but is out of touch with actual reality.
You know reality, where you actually try and understand what is real ?
In fact NOBODY Even understands the financial system in general except a few at the top who know the programmers of the agent based trading transaction computers that require an entire floor of an office block.0 -
Not sure why you have reposted the original article. The original discussion about this article was here.
The conclusion seems to have been that this was a rather lazy article based on something by Which?
Regards
Sunil
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Not sure why you have reposted the original article. The original discussion about this article was here.
The conclusion seems to have been that this was a rather lazy article based on something by Which?
Regards
Sunil
I just read it. Amounted to a lot of people saying stuff along the lines of denying that a person having a PhD in maths would not be capable of calculating these problems.
YET more of the twisted denial when faced with hard facts that is rampant on these forums. It appears honesty is in short supply here for some straannnge reason.
Couldnt be anything to do with greed, delusion, lying, denial for the sake of it and desire to blame others could it ?
Nah couldnt be that ..0 -
I just read it. Amounted to a lot of people saying stuff along the lines of denying that a person having a PhD in maths would not be capable of calculating these problems.
YET more of the twisted denial when faced with hard facts that is rampant on these forums. It appears honesty is in short supply here for some straannnge reason.
Couldnt be anything to do with greed, delusion, lying, denial for the sake of it and desire to blame others could it ?
Nah couldnt be that ..
What's it got to do with honesty? I am fairly confident that I could work out the bank charges on any mainstream bank account, and I haven't studied maths in years (and only then to A level standard).
The fact that they managed to find a person with a Maths PHD who has very little reasoning skills doesn't actually mean anything.0 -
Then the maths student is a moron.0
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Ok smart alecs, i see its more of all those people are idiots the system can be understood delusion.
how about a challenge and we can see here clearly if your statements are true or not ?
I post photocopies of my bank statements when the charges started along with photocopies of all the terms and conditions or a set of PDF if i can get them.
Then lets see what you are made of ? Are you SURE you can predict how much the charges are going to be ?0 -
Yep, I find it quite easy to work out after reading terms and conditions
Tell you what, we try and make this a bet, where you bet with your own money and have this challenge overseen by the MSE staff.
Basically if you can calculate the charges then you get your money doubled. If you cannot then your bet is prone to the recurrent charges you claim to be able to calculate.0 -
Provide the terms & conditions, the statements from at least the previous two accounting/interest periods (from the start date you're interested in, or account opening date if you wish) to current day and I would be happy that I could calculate charges.
The only time I've seen issues is when back valued entries cause a re-calculation of interest (often with a credit against the debit interest and possibly then a recalculation of the compound interest).0 -
Oh and I want my "bet" increased by the same charges (if I win) it would be prone to if I lost the bet.
That would make it fair.0
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