MSE News: EU plans to widen access to basic bank accounts

Gentoo365

innovate wrote: »

Let's not get carried away here. The numbers of EU citizens who would, IMO, want to open a basic GBP account will be anything between minute and zero. Do you really think the average Joe Bloggs would want to change their few Euros in GBPs? And then do what with them?

Well if the account was free, why not?

I imagine many 'moneysavers' would look into it. For UK citizens it would not really be worth it, unless they go abroad very often, as most (non-uk) EU banks charge.

Also think about financial crisis situations (e.g. Cyprus). If you were in Spain/Portugal/Ireland and heard rumour of a tax/levy on deposits then you could exercise your right to open an account in the UK. In the knowledge that the UK Government are unlikely to let savers lose their money.

innovate

I don't dispute that some people will seek shelter in the Pound. However, these are generally people with substantial funds, and these are not your typical customer for a basic bank account.

Add to this that a basic bank account pays zero % interest - - -- so why would anyone want to open an account in a foreign currency which pays them zero interest?

Those folks who do have spare cash don't need to wait for any basic accounts legislation. They have long had ways to shift their money around, either in cash or assets.

Regarding the UK Government being unlikely to let savers lose their money. UK savers have been losing money hand over fist for the last couple of years, and are likely to continue to do so because savings rates won't even touch inflation. (No difference there to the EU, or anywhere in the Western hemisphere, for that matter).

If you are referring to the £85K FSCS protection - - that isn't a Government protection but an industry funded one. And all European countries have an equivalent protection of 100K Euros. The EU had the 100K protection long before the UK upped the protection to £85K, in the wake of the financial crisis.