No Running Balance

londoninvestor

masonic wrote: »

Back to the subject of running balances, TSB shows you your running balance and offers 5% interest on up to £1,500. Perhaps its time for you to switch. For your information, Lloyds group also show a running balance, HSBC group show a daily balance and I'm sure all others show one or the other.

Nationwide shows a running balance against each and every transaction too.

masonic wrote: »

I still don't see why it is useful to see what your balance was after each and every transaction, as opposed to your balance at the end of each day for current accounts (the figure used for determining overdraft usage etc), or your statement balance for credit cards (the figure used for determining how much you should pay)

Agreed. I find historic end of day balances useful, not just for overdrafts and interest cap thresholds, but also because "what's my balance now compared to the corresponding day last month" is a nice quick and dirty way to eyeball this month's net spending. I can't imagine wanting to go back to see my balance after individual transactions within the day though.

BooJewels

I'm not sure it would be possible to give an accurate running total on a bank account as different types of transaction are processed in different timescales - and would they need to be able to see into the future too, to anticipate the cheque you've written and just posted, the bill payment you've scheduled for next Tuesday and the direct debits you've got going out overnight?

Isn't this what budgeting apps, spreadsheets, pencil and calculator are for, when the bank customer takes responsibility for their own finances? Armed with your choice of such a tool and a willingness to put the effort in, the bank gives you lots of information to keep very accurate control. I know to the penny what I have today (over several accounts), what will go out for the rest of the month and I could probably make a decent stab at what my balance will be on the third week in January. I could have said the same on any day in the last 40 years. I don't see it as anyone's job - or responsibility - but mine.

jonesMUFCforever

All of my bank and credit card accounts show what the OP is looking for.

However If I get a mini statement from the ATM then it shows the balance at the top and a final balance (together with available balance)at the bottom - is this what the OP is complaining about?

societys_child

I dunno, if he's online and can't see the running totals, maybe he just needs to scroll the screen to the right >
or zoom out a bit . .

masonic

Consumer66 wrote: »

haha!
thought I'd get a serous discussion about this issue and perhaps support as to how to get running balances re-instated ... but no just a bunch of buffoons who ( I would guess) either work for the institutions I am criticising - or who really don't care about Consumer Affairs and just want to amuse themselves
pity there is not an emoji for what I would like to say to you all just now

You can't expect to post factually incorrect information about what banks do and don't provide, or controversial opinions about what customers need, without inviting commentary from those who disagree with you or who have verified what you have said is false.

Moderator - Is there a way to block certain people from replying to my posts and.or interacting with me on here?

There is a "Report" button at the bottom of every post. If you believe certain people have broken forum rules (for example by posting insulting statements about other posters, calling them buffoons and expressing a desire to post insulting emojis), then go ahead and report them to the abuse team. But this is an open discussion forum and you cannot censor block people from expressing views you simply don't like.

You can however click on certain user's forum name to go to their profile page and then add them to your ignore list. This will stop you from seeing any of their posts.

Zanderman

masonic wrote: »

There is a "Report" button at the bottom of every post. If you believe certain people have broken forum rules (for example by posting insulting statements about other posters, calling them buffoons and expressing a desire to post insulting emojis), then go ahead and report them to the abuse team. .

Yes, done precisely that!

AnotherJoe

jonesMUFCforever wrote: »

All of my bank and credit card accounts show what the OP is looking for.

However If I get a mini statement from the ATM then it shows the balance at the top and a final balance (together with available balance)at the bottom - is this what the OP is complaining about?

Who knows, since as everyone has said, they can see what their current balance is, his claim that "Not knowing your balance" is a cunning scheme by banks to get you to spend more, falls at the first hurdle.

tempus_fugit

Consumer66 wrote: »

haha!
thought I'd get a serous discussion about this issue and perhaps support as to how to get running balances re-instated ... but no just a bunch of buffoons who ( I would guess) either work for the institutions I am criticising - or who really don't care about Consumer Affairs and just want to amuse themselves
pity there is not an emoji for what I would like to say to you all just now

Moderator - Is there a way to block certain people from replying to my posts and.or interacting with me on here?

{Edited by Forum Team}. No, what it is is you are getting replies from people who are perfectly capable of running their finances without needing an updated balance after every single transaction. As was pointed out earlier, a running balance does not help you know how much you have available to spend. For a start if you have a balance at item 2 out of 6 it's irrelevant as you've already spent more on the remaining items, so that figure is now meaningless. Also, there may be other items that haven't come off the statement yet that you still have to pay and even a final balance won't tell you what you have left to spend - I learnt this about five minutes after I started doing my own finances.

The answer is to budget properly and check your statements as you go along. As you say though, we are in the computer age so this is best done with electronic statements that can then be loaded into software and you can keep track of things that way. So, like others, I haven't noticed the lack of running balances as I haven't actually seen a paper statement for quite some time.

P.S. I don't work for any banks, I'm retired.

Ergates

Consumer66 wrote: »

haha!
thought I'd get a serous discussion about this issue and perhaps support as to how to get running balances re-instated ... but no just a bunch of buffoons who ( I would guess) either work for the institutions I am criticising - or who really don't care about Consumer Affairs and just want to amuse themselves
pity there is not an emoji for what I would like to say to you all just now

Moderator - Is there a way to block certain people from replying to my posts and.or interacting with me on here?

As every poster on here has shown - banks *do* display a running balance. Your apparent inability to operate a simple bank account is nobody else's fault. I'm sure if you go into your local branch and ask nicely they'll run you through ti.

Consumer66

examples:
Bank of Scotland
Tesco Bank
evanquis
Capital One
Argos Card
nectar points
paypal (unless adjustments are made to the standard view)