Fight them from the inside.

patman99

As most banks & building societies have elected boards of directors, I wonder if it would be possible to get MSE members elected to those boards?.
Once on board, they could then pass resolutions to reduce bank charges, and even refund charges going back 6 years.

The only question that needs considering is, is this an ethical action to take ?.

If this idea gets enough support, then it might be worth my time setting-up a website containing campaign info and voting info for each Bank/Building Society.

krisskross

Who votes these directors in?

patman99

The account holders.

patman99

Easy targets would be Nationwide & Britania as they are in effect, owned by their customers.

Smasher

Its a little ambitious

Personally, I think the best way to answer them is to find a way to live without a current account. Back to the good old days. Get a basic account with no DDs, no debit card e.t.c. & pay bills the old fashioned way.

If everyone on mse, cag & co found a way to do this, we'll see how long "free banking" continues..

Riq

patman99 wrote: »

The account holders.

Shareholders, not necessarily account holders.


And I hope you don't put serious thought into this btw as it is never ever going to happen!:rotfl:

dzug

Well shareholdings in the main banks are largely held by institutions and pensions funds. The amount held by individual shareholders is insignificant to the point where it, and their votes, can be ignored.

They (the funds) are not going to vote for a bunch of (in their view) crackpot individuals who at the extreme think they have the god-given (well law-given anyway) right to borrow as much as they like from the bank for as long as they like for free.

Even with the mutuals getting enough such individuals elected to have any real influence isn't going to be easy.

Mark7799

Smasher wrote: »

Its a little ambitious

Personally, I think the best way to answer them is to find a way to live without a current account. Back to the good old days. Get a basic account with no DDs, no debit card e.t.c. & pay bills the old fashioned way.

If everyone on mse, cag & co found a way to do this, we'll see how long "free banking" continues..

A building society passbook account would seem to fit the bill then - especially as many will allow salary credits to be applied through BACS as well.