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apart from under the bed

It would seem to me banks are making good money between 8-20% on loans yet they now offer me 0.01% on savings and then to add insult they will give away £200 for new customers. Apart from under the bed with inherent risks of theft and fire where can you put cash to stop banks profiteering from my hard earned. It would seem the only way to get interest on savings is to hug a tree while being whipped with 3 blades of grass in a field full of mushrooms or dare I say it open 10 separate bank accounts
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Comments

  • If you jump thru the hoops you can get a small return, I don't want a loan but at 2.9% interest for lending savers money out they aren't doing too bad.
    Would the banks collapse if savers said "we want 30% of what ever you are making out of my money"
  • spadoosh
    spadoosh Posts: 8,732 Forumite
    Ninth Anniversary 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Photogenic
    If you jump thru the hoops you can get a small return, I don't want a loan but at 2.9% interest for lending savers money out they aren't doing too bad.
    Would the banks collapse if savers said "we want 30% of what ever you are making out of my money"

    No, they would say 'no, good luck finding a bank that offers you that'.
  • macman
    macman Posts: 53,129 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    No hoop jumping is required. It takes minutes to open a new current account or savings account online-it's never been easier, and you can easily secure rates up to 5% on relatively small amounts in the former. If you stick with what your own bank offers then 0.1% is probably what you will get. Vote with your feet rather than complaining.
    No free lunch, and no free laptop ;)
  • Linton
    Linton Posts: 18,343 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Hung up my suit!
    Banks can demand high rates of interest on loans because they are taking the risk that they will never be repaid. How much risk are you prepared to take with your savings? The more risk you are prepared to take the higher return you can get. Perhaps you should look at P2P lending or share/fund investing.

    Also banks have to pay for the expensive "free" services they provide for you - eg running a banking service with expensive buildings and staff, providing cash machines across the country etc etc.
  • It would seem to me banks are making good money between 8-20% on loans yet they now offer me 0.01% on savings and then to add insult they will give away £200 for new customers.
    A typical interest margin for a bank is around 2%. They may be charging some customers 20% or more on debt but some of those customers don't pay them back.
    Apart from under the bed with inherent risks of theft and fire where can you put cash to stop banks profiteering from my hard earned.
    A building society. Credit union. P2P.
    It would seem the only way to get interest on savings is to hug a tree while being whipped with 3 blades of grass in a field full of mushrooms or dare I say it open 10 separate bank accounts
    Either you play the game or you don't.
  • nb0825
    nb0825 Posts: 115 Forumite
    I think p2p is the way forward. Why go to the bank when you can go direct to the borrower (the general public). Some providers are well-established like zopa, ratesetter
  • Flobberchops
    Flobberchops Posts: 1,279 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Fifth Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Put it this way: imagine you were renting a safe deposit box that was big enough to squeeze £75000 into. This deposit box could be accessed by yourself 24/7, and you were insured for the full value of the contents (up to that 75k limit). Better than that, it's a magic deposit box, that allows you to access your cash from thousands of locations across the world and actually can be used to pay for things over the phone, on the internet and through mobile apps. How much would you be willing to pay for such a service?

    What I've just described is a standard Current Account which is provided scott-free by most UK providers. Imagine being paid, even if just a little, to use a similar service! That's what an easy-access savings account is. Insanity!

    Best we don't look the gift horse too closely in the mouth, perhaps. I'd much sooner have crummy interest rates than account fees across the board as is standard in the US and Europe. If you want your money to earn you money, that's what investments and P2P are for.
    : )
  • steampowered
    steampowered Posts: 6,176 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Banks have to pay for staff, premises, IT systems, insurance, loans which are not repaid, cash machines and so on.

    I wouldn't describe charging more on loans than paid on savings as "profiteering". Its just business. That money has to come from somewhere.

    As another poster pointed out, the banks in most other countries around the world charge a monthly fee to have a current account or credit card.
  • jimjames
    jimjames Posts: 18,867 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    If you jump thru the hoops you can get a small return, I don't want a loan but at 2.9% interest for lending savers money out they aren't doing too bad.
    Would the banks collapse if savers said "we want 30% of what ever you are making out of my money"
    I think you're being a bit blinkered. If you really want to beat the banks then surely jumping those hoops is worthwhile rather than just moaning about it especially when they are minimal effort.

    I borrow at 0% and get paid 5% interest (partly dropping to 3% today). How is that anything but a fantastic deal for the customer?
    Remember the saying: if it looks too good to be true it almost certainly is.
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