Account switching guilt!

Spanishsunawaits

I know this is a bizarre question but for some reason, I feel a little guilty wanting to switch bank accounts again.

I was with Halifax for several years, having switched from RBS. Back in July I switched to Co-op to get switch fee and £4 a month bonus. I now want to switch to First Direct to get their fee. But for some reason, I question is it right.

I expect a few hard replies and I assume many of you do it all the time. But money is money, right?

castle96

I feel no 'guilt'. I am just working the system and fulfilling the T&Cs. To me it is tax/free 'earnings'. Lose no sleep !

spadoosh

Im in the middle of looking at switching banks.

This is part of the problem of sites like MSE. Its a catch 22. It encourages people to find the best deals, to maximise earnings and minimise expenditure. Ultimately though by encouraging people to take advantage it ultimately increases the cost for the majority.

Would bank charges be higher or lower if they didnt offer switching deals?

As an example HUKD, looks at finding the cheapest suppliers without taking any (much) ethical view. So lets say you choose to buy the toy from china instead of UK (there was a lego thread yesterday which highlights this). Workers rights might be compromised, copyright infringements might be taken advantage of, environmental concerns might not be as much a priority.

Its capitalism at its finest. For some to 'win' there has to be an offset of 'losers'.

Norscbu

Spanishsunawaits wrote: »

I know this is a bizarre question but for some reason, I feel a little guilty wanting to switch bank accounts again.

I was with Halifax for several years, having switched from RBS. Back in July I switched to Co-op to get switch fee and £4 a month bonus. I now want to switch to First Direct to get their fee. But for some reason, I question is it right.

I expect a few hard replies and I assume many of you do it all the time. But money is money, right?

I'm gobsmacked. You feel guilt for what? taking up an offer which they have purposefully provided and are effectively being paid for your time, from an organisation that would not think twice about charging you various account fees for what is in effect a robotic database transaction with little to no cost to them.

Think about it, they could *easily* impose terms which would put off most MSE'ers only switching for the free cash. But they don't... because they have calculated they can still make money from them overall, or they have targets to meet to keep shareholders happy.

spadoosh

Norscbu wrote: »

I'm gobsmacked. You feel guilt for what? taking up an offer which they have purposefully provided and are effectively being paid for your time, from an organisation that would not think twice about charging you various account fees for what is in effect a robotic database transaction with little to no cost to them.

Think about it, they could *easily* impose terms which would put off most MSE'ers only switching for the free cash. But they don't... because they have calculated they can still make money from them overall, or they have targets to meet to keep shareholders happy.

On the contrary, you should think about it. Whilst banks probably rightfully so have a bad rep its not them youre taking the money from. Its the people who have too pay more to offset the offers that your taking advantage of.

Its a kin to finding £5 in the street. Whilst yay its good youve found a fiver, you taking that fiver could be depriving the person who dropped/lost it their lunch.

Or similarly the fact that your mere existence and the life you lead in the UK deprives many others around the world. Components in the phone you have could have sever consequences to the health of the person who mined them in what is likely pretty poor working conditions. The burden of you fueling your car doesnt fall on you, it falls on the communities who are least likely to benefit.


So whilst you might think 'take all you can from the banks' the implications are much wider spread. And its this ignorance (not meaning to be rude but by definition it is ignorance) that has led us down the path we're at as a world. With massive economical and ecological problems. It takes those who carry guilt to try and buffer the consequences or those who struggle to take the advantage to deal with the consequences, in this case increased charges or more expensive products.

Norscbu

spadoosh wrote: »

On the contrary, you should think about it. Whilst banks probably rightfully so have a bad rep its not them youre taking the money from. Its the people who have too pay more to offset the offers that your taking advantage of.

Got any facts to back this up? you say "taking advantage", but that's not how I see it and I doubt the bank does either.

So whilst you might think 'take all you can from the banks' the implications are much wider spread. And its this ignorance (not meaning to be rude but by definition it is ignorance) that has led us down the path we're at as a world.

Wow, I think you're wayyyyyy off. I think some perspective is needed if you've gone from taking up offers from banks to problems of the world.

keiran

nonsense

the banks screw us all the time - it's only right to play them at their game when we can

takman

Obviously the banks make their money from the people who are paying interest on their overdrafts and paying fees for bounced direct debits etc. But these people are paying these fees due to their own mismanagement of money. They have the same opportunity as everyone else in the country to manage their finances so they don't have to pay these fees.
So by taking up the switching bonuses you shouldn't feel guilty for imposing higher charges on these people because it's their own fault they are in that situation.

[Deleted User]

Spanishsunawaits wrote: »

I know this is a bizarre question but for some reason, I feel a little guilty wanting to switch bank accounts again.

I was with Halifax for several years, having switched from RBS. Back in July I switched to Co-op to get switch fee and £4 a month bonus. I now want to switch to First Direct to get their fee. But for some reason, I question is it right.

I expect a few hard replies and I assume many of you do it all the time. But money is money, right?

Hard reply. If you feel this way, just stop switching. Stay with Co-op and don't do that switch to FD. Don't come on here and expect others to assuage your guilt. It's YOUR guilt. Deal with it by stopping switching. Job done.

Edited to add: If you are genuinely feeling guilty (and not just looking for cheap reassurance that it's all okay what you're doing) why don't you pay your previous switching bonuses to your local food bank to help those down on their luck in your local area?
FWIW, I don't think you have any reason to feel guilty.

castle96

What you need is 'hair shirt' to help with the guilt.
If I find a fiver in the street, what do I do? Take it to a Police Station ! Yeah... Someone has lost it and I feel sorry for them but there is no way of returning it. If I see them drop it, I give it back. I feel no guilt for the former.
The 'free money' from the banks (£2350 for me so far), comes from....... a variety of sources, including people paying fees, but also dividends to shareholders,, etc.

spadoosh

Norscbu wrote: »

Got any facts to back this up? you say "taking advantage", but that's not how I see it and I doubt the bank does either.



Wow, I think you're wayyyyyy off. I think some perspective is needed if you've gone from taking up offers from banks to problems of the world.

I admit i like to take things to the extreme but the point still stands, there are wider implications than 'banks are bad we should take advantage'.

I meant taking advantage in the literal sense as in taking the offer. It puts you (the receiver of the offer) in a better position. Not all will find it easy to switch, particularly those in large amounts of debt. Facts? No, no facts. Ive based it on common sense. To offer incentives always means the cost are recouped in other areas. 'Free delivery' = the cost of delivery is incorportated in to the price of the goods. "free iphone" the cost is incorporated into the cost of the air time charge. Naturally the larger the business the more they benefit from economies of scale which can offset the sots but then that burden is usually passed on to the supplier or can long term effect competition. See what i mean, much wider implications. How far you want to go into that is up to you (the ignorance comment)

Remember the old natwest piggy bank? I cant believe they offered the best interest rates on their child accounts? Yet held a good chunk of the market. Go figure.