'We don't hate banks - busting this and other myths about us' blog discussion 12 March 2012 at 7:00PM in Martin's blogs & appearances & MoneySavingExpert in the news 8 replies 2.5K views

Former_MSE_Penelope

This is the discussion to link on the back of Martin's blog. Please read the blog first, as this discussion follows it.

Read Martin's "We don't hate banks - busting this and other myths about MoneySavingExpert.com" Blog.

Please click 'post reply' to discuss below.

Stephen_Leak

And I even trust banks ... but only as far as I could spit a cash dispenser.

MothballsWallet

Martin, you've forgotten the Golden Rule of mythbusting, which is to say the following phrase: "I reject your reality and substitute my own."

All I will say is Google it.

meher

On the editorial team, we have a money desk, consumer desk and deals desk — all research and writing to feed the monstorous demand for info. Then there’s the technical and design teams, the forum team, a legal team

where's marketing - that's my area of interest every company and bank mentioned on the site would eventually have partnership with mse, like amazon, and pay royalties

that’s some of the assumptions people make about the site. So I thought it time for a bit of mythbusting.
MoneySaving is all about thrift.

Thanx for this - there are still times, if you unthinkingly post about buying organic food from m&s or xmassy gifts from jl or hampers from f&m, someone would charge at you, pounce on you, along with cliquies (bullies alwaus have cliquies) and call you snob and other choicest abuse, attempt to bury you live. I've never got round (and have no intentions of getting round) understanding their deep seated issues. I only believe in being free and liberal and so glad that this site has made it clear, time and again, that it isn't about dictating lifestyles, rather about helping us live royally with what we can afford. Money saving should be enjoyable experience and not some kind of an ocd.

I like the idea of being clever with money and I can sense a lot of it on the site, which makes this site attractive and not that we should only shop at morrisons and buy value from tescos or the illreputed primemark. I refuse to shop at cheapie places or buy unethically sourced items, instead learn how to save money cleverly so that I could be a reg customer at jl and f&m. Now come on cultists, flame, discuss, troll whatever :rotfl::p

lostinrates

meher wrote: »

where's marketing - that's my area of interest every company and bank mentioned on the site would eventually have partnership with mse, like amazon, and pay royaltiesThanx for this - there are still times, if you unthinkingly post about buying organic food from m&s or xmassy gifts from jl or hampers from f&m, someone would charge at you, pounce on you, along with cliquies (bullies alwaus have cliquies) and call you snob and other choicest abuse, attempt to bury you live. I've never got round (and have no intentions of getting round) understanding their deep seated issues. I only believe in being free and liberal and so glad that this site has made it clear, time and again, that it isn't about dictating lifestyles, rather about helping us live royally with what we can afford. Money saving should be enjoyable experience and not some kind of an ocd.

I like the idea of being clever with money and I can sense a lot of it on the site, which makes this site attractive and not that we should only shop at morrisons and buy value from tescos or the illreputed primemark. I refuse to shop at cheapie places or buy unethically sourced items, instead learn how to save money cleverly so that I could be a reg customer at jl and f&m. Now come on cultists, flame, discuss, troll whatever :rotfl::p

Well, much the same for me. I am not a regular customer anywhere, though lots of the posh food halls greet dh by his first name and save him searchingfor the bargains and help him find them. We could not afford to install central hearing this winter, but we had a f and m stilton in the freezer.....a whoopsy

I am Old style by nature as well a a necessity of our lifestyle. i like cooking from scratch and solving a problem, i do mot like disposable things, but we make some sacrifices to save us making others. Unethical food is one of those for us, plain old bad food is another avoid for us.

Its interesting that martin particularly references OS here. I noticed and commented on something late last night much to this effect.....and knew it would drop like a stone and not win me any friends. . Much of the idea that some good and potentially old style is mocked because its 'too posh' dismays me. Inverse snobbery is rampant here.

jamesd

One expansion you could usefully make on the finance side is mentioning that the choice of featured items is influenced by which will make the most money, among other things. This shouldn't surprise anyone because the items that make money are also likely to strongly favour the ones that are most popular.

It'd be good to see you ending up as a billionaire. It's an entirely credible target. Might be a bit soon for a "How long before Martin hits his first billion" graphic though... This paragraph is more joke than serious, but some indication to encourage others sometime might be socially good.

danothy

This image is superb.

MarkyMarkD

This paragraph:

MSE_Martin wrote:

The issue is when those profits are from systemic PPI mis-selling, unfair bank charges or quietly dropping their savings interest to 0.1%. If profits are from competition and great deals – then I hope they’re large.

is rather naive or disingenuous.

Competition and great deals don't lead to large banking profits! Competition is all about eroding product providers' margins for the benefit of consumers, and it is competition in the banking market which has led to the growth of what Martin sees as "rip-offs" - e.g. the selling of "add-ons" like PPI and the increasing level of bank charges.

The basis banking model, resulting from competition, is broken.

Free banking is ridiculous. No other business gives away its core product for nothing and expects to prosper. Free banking arose as a result of cut-throat competition for current account customers and, once one bank introduced it, it was impossible for others not to follow. This is a clear example of where competition was NOT, ultimately, good for the consumer - because it left banks with a void to fill to generate a reasonable level of profit.

Free banking wasn't totally unworkable when first introduced, because interest rates were far higher and hence banks continued to benefit from free funding which was worth quite a bit. But now that rates are low, free funds (from current account balances) are worth far less, but nothing has come in to fill the void.

Regarding "great deals", almost all "great deals" are loss-making for the bank concerned, or at best make them hardly anything. If everyone only buys "great deals" - which is Martin's declared objective - then the overall value of those great deals will likely fall because there is no cross-subsidy from those customers with "not great deals".

Savings accounts are a prime example of this - every person buying a "best buy" account, based on MSE or other "best buy" advice, is being subsidised by savers getting 0.1% or less. That's a fact. And if every bank stops paying anybody 0.1% or less, they'll have to pay lower "best buy" rates, or go out of business.

So, MSE really only works if there is an "in crowd" who benefit, and an "out crowd" who don't. So compaigning for everyone to join the "in crowd" is rather self-defeating (or maybe very clever political posturing - as long as it doesn't actually succeed)!

Stryder

I have to take umption at the suggestion of "ethical stance"

1) Martin, indivisible from the website, wrote for News of the World after the scandal broke out.
2) Martin writes for the Sun, which as a football fan think should be banned - and interestingly is now under intense investigation for wrong doing.
3) The website promotes Tesco in an amazingly biased way,
4) Appears to never touch the ethics of banking, consumer choice and ethical purchasing.

MSE is a business and not a charity, and although it does some good work (which I admit there is some, although arguably the majority is via unpaid forum contributors), it not a selfless peoples champion. It uses potential discounts as a commodity - which is fine, but its neither a saint or a sinner - just a business.

I wish the site would be more open. If you want to take the stance of "people champion", publish your accounts and which companies pay you the most (I am sure Tesco is up there). If not, admit your a business and stop the pretense