Another Bank charging £10 per month for Current Account

JayHabib

I've got a couple of letters from my bank recently that really wound me up!!

I'm with Islamic Bank of Britain, who I joined because they were claiming they were an ethical bank that did not support businesses that are involved in socially irresponsible businesses.

Now they are telling me that they will charge me £10 a month for the privilege of using an ordinary current account. They've dubbed it a "counter fee". They very helpfully point out that I won't get charged the £10 a month if I use their telephone banking (which is so poorly staffed that it takes 10 minutes to get through to someone) and I also won't get charged if I use their Internet Banking service (which crashes all the time anyway!).

Well whoop-dee-doo. They make out like offering free internet and telephone banking is something special, as opposed to what EVERY other bank offers for free anyway!! :mad:

The only ways to avoid this monthly fee (which they sprung on me with no warning) is to have an average monthly balance of at least £1500 in the account, or alternatively just don't use the account at all.

What this effectively means is, if I go into a branch to deposit or take out even £1, they will charge me £10 for the privilege of doing it. Outrageous!! :mad:

I didn't sign up for an internet only account. I only opened the account because they had just opened a branch near my house about a year ago. And now for the second bit of good news (amazing how banks always make these things sound like "good news"!)... They are closing that branch anyway! Of course, they are vehemently denying that they are closing that branch and claim they are simply "converting" it into a "Commercial Centre" - but in essence, I can't go there to do my banking, so for all intents and purposes the branch is being closed.

Well enough is enough. I'm going to close my account with Islamic Bank of Britain. I don't care how ethical they claim to be... their behaviour towards their customers certainly isn't!! :mad:

Yours,

A very disgruntled customer

System

Hi

I can understand why your vexed!!

Lloyds TSB offer an Islamic current account, and being such a big company you should be able to find a local branch!

Regards
UNDERGROUND

http://www.lloydstsb.com/current_accounts/islamic_account.asp
(NOT an affiliate link)

Dylanwing

Write to them and tell them the good news that following a personal financial review, and in light of the lack of available convenient personal transactional facilities following the upgrading of the local personal interface solution, you will be re-locating to an alternative supplier which will allow their staff additional time to service their other customers.

The spirit of Gus Hedges lives on. Terrific!

JayHabib

Dylanwing wrote: »

Write to them and tell them the good news that following a personal financial review, and in light of the lack of available convenient personal transactional facilities following the upgrading of the local personal interface solution, you will be re-locating to an alternative supplier which will allow their staff additional time to service their other customers.

The spirit of Gus Hedges lives on. Terrific!

:T

Have to say though, that I suspect this is exactly what they want. By introducing a charge for lower balance customers, they seem to be sending a message that this "ethical" bank is actually only interested in rich customers, and wants to force it's poorer customers to go do their banking elsewhere.

Thanks for the Lloyds TSB recommendation UNDERGROUND, but I'm more tempted to go for the HSBC Islamic account. If you're not interested in receiving interest then it's probably the best option I think.

sdooley

I wonder if, in lieu of interest, a bank could offer to pay customers a flat sum if they stay in credit all month and have their salary paid into the account. Would be a nice gesture, say £5, and would have a wider appeal than Muslims, I think.

JayHabib

sdooley wrote: »

I wonder if, in lieu of interest, a bank could offer to pay customers a flat sum if they stay in credit all month and have their salary paid into the account. Would be a nice gesture, say £5, and would have a wider appeal than Muslims, I think.

That might sound like a good idea, but I think Islamic banks are restricted about how and where they can use your money, so they make nowhere near the profits that regular banks do. In fact, Islamic Bank Britain has been losing millions since the day it set up shop on the high street.

Because of that I think that they wouldnt be overly keen on paying people for having money in their account. Also, a lot of Muslims would probably be a little bit wary of getting anything on top of the money they deposit, so it might actually backfire if they tried to do that.

sdooley

I think Islamic Bank of Britain's problems are probably more to do with its high fixed costs in establishing a branch network before it had a wide customer base in the face of cheaper internet-based competition, to be honest.

The £10 fee in that context may be more about propping up an unsuccessful business in that case.

My understanding of the rules relating to riba (unauthorised interest) (and I am not a Muslim, nor a scholar in this field) was that there was no objection to genuine profit-sharing with the proceeds of lent money, just to interest on a compound basis. Hence all the structured bonds and similar products issued by Malaysia and some of the Emirates.

JayHabib

Actually 99% of Muslim scholars believe that the only acceptable type of loan of money is a non-interest loan. You're not even allowed to accept favours or hospitality from someone you've lent money to as it could be construed as profiting from money-lending.