Sky News - Fee free basic accounts - Treasury To Unveil 'Landmark' Bank Agreement

tomo21217

No doubt the people who correctly operate their account will in some way be the ones subsidising the people who can't operate their affairs correctly.

It's like saying all the people who obey the speed limit will have higher road tax so they can offer free fines for people who can't keep under the speed limit.

SuperHan

I don't know.. It doesn't seem the worst idea in the world.

This is something that doesn't affect me at all, I have significant available overdrafts that I never dip into, and have buffers on all my accounts, but when I see that it will cost me £10 a month to have an account where I can't go overdrawn, it seems a bit excessive.

These accounts are for people who have no money, it seems reasonable to allow them to have an account which only allows them to use their money and at no cost.

However, I say that, on the premise that bank accounts remain free for everyone. Surely the costs of these accounts will be minimal to banks, it just means they won't be profiting as much, but I also imagine a lot of these unpaid fees themselves go unpaid and become part of a cycle of debt for a lot of people.

colsten

If these accounts contribute substantially to getting the neediest people out of debt, they can only be good news to our society at large. I would prefer to pay a little extra in bank charges or receive slightly less interest rather than having to pay higher taxes to fund higher benefits payments.

It's a very big "if" though.

fermi

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-30456219

fermi

OK. Should probably continue here:

MSE News: Charge-free basic bank accounts unveiled