HSBC says it could charge for current accounts

garmeg

stclair said:

garmeg said:

stclair said:

I think if they was to do this it would stop people having multiple current accounts  as I’m sure someone wouldn’t pay a fee for each account they hold. I personally have 7 current accounts across different banks and most certainly wouldn’t pay for them all. 

I think I have about 10 ...

Nationwide 2
Halifax Reward 2
BOS Reward 1
First direct 1
HSBC 1
RBS 1 (was 3, 2 used for Lloyds and HSBC switch cashback)
Santander 123 Lite 1
Lloyds Club 1
TSB 2 (was 3, 1 used for RBS switch cashback)

Make that 12, down from 15 a couple of months ago.

I would only pay for one, so I would have 11 more to kill off.

I suspect they will probably say unless you pay in X amount a month we will charge you a fee or something along those lines. 

For some of the above we have to do that already.

Herbalus

Anybody actually read the article beyond the headline? It says they may consider a fee “in some countries” and they operate in over 50 countries, so it’s a big leap to conclusion to think it’s the UK. They also clarified later in the article that there are no plans for this to be introduced for basic accounts in the UK.

nothing to write home about really. 

Herbalus

RobM99 said:

Thrugelmir said:

Why should current account banking be free?  Services have to be paid for by someone. 

Interest the banks earn by lending our money out.  Possibly.

The trouble is that the current environment means interest earned by the banks is much reduced, so banks lending your money out for not much/no return for the banks means other revenue is sought. 

If the Bank of England goes to negative rates, then banks will have to pay the BoE to deposit funds there i.e. paying to hold your money instead of earning from lending it out. 

Yahoo_Mail

Herbalus said:

Anybody actually read the article beyond the headline? It says they may consider a fee “in some countries” and they operate in over 50 countries, so it’s a big leap to conclusion to think it’s the UK. They also clarified later in the article that there are no plans for this to be introduced for basic accounts in the UK.

nothing to write home about really. 

Well most of us won't be eligible for a free basic bank account so it's potentially a problem for quite a few of us.

Descrabled

I remember when HSBC, possibly Midland, charged by the number of payments you made each month. To circumvent this problem I opened and used Barclaycard, the only credit card then available. Spending was to the card and reduced the number of payments each month.

A case of unintended consequences and pushing customers to a rival bank.

k12479

Malkytheheed said:
Because I am giving my money to the bank so they can loan it out to someone else and profit from it. yes? I don't have to give my money to a bank, without it they can't function. They way I see it banks should be fighting for my money.

That assumes having a sufficient amount of money that the bank can lend out to achieve a return after covering the cost of providing banking services to that individual. For many people, the amount of money they have is insufficient.

ischris85

Herbalus said:

Anybody actually read the article beyond the headline? It says they may consider a fee “in some countries” and they operate in over 50 countries, so it’s a big leap to conclusion to think it’s the UK. They also clarified later in the article that there are no plans for this to be introduced for basic accounts in the UK.

nothing to write home about really. 

You obviously didn't...

"Meanwhile, its chief finance director, Ewen Stevenson, warned the bank could begin to charge for some services including current accounts in countries such as the UK, where basic accounts are usually free."

garmeg

ischris85 said:

Herbalus said:

Anybody actually read the article beyond the headline? It says they may consider a fee “in some countries” and they operate in over 50 countries, so it’s a big leap to conclusion to think it’s the UK. They also clarified later in the article that there are no plans for this to be introduced for basic accounts in the UK.

nothing to write home about really. 

You obviously didn't...

"Meanwhile, its chief finance director, Ewen Stevenson, warned the bank could begin to charge for some services including current accounts in countries such as the UK, where basic accounts are usually free."

"Could" and "such as" not "Would" and "like".

Something to worry about if it happens. A big cull from me if necessary - something to be said about simplifying things anyway.

etienneg

If current accounts cost banks so much to run, why ever do they bother paying such large bonuses for people to open them?

eskbanker

etienneg said:

If current accounts cost banks so much to run, why ever do they bother paying such large bonuses for people to open them?

Loss leaders, hoping to cross-sell more profitable products or to generate overdraft income.