Banking Industry

oscar52

Hereward wrote: »

You may be forced to have your wages paid into a bank account, but you are not forced to keep your money in your account after you have been paid. You are not forced to pay for everthing by direct debit: you could quite easily go into your branch after pay day and withdraw the lot and then just use cash.

You'll note in my signature I have a card and loan with cahoot - a company who have no branches (though are a division of abbey) and issue no paper statements - therefore I have no way of paying them other than by direct debit. I believe it is also in the T&C's of other providers (egg springs to mind) that a DD has to be set up on account opening. So while you are not forced to pay for everything by DD or SO, sometimes there is no choice.

Also, as you admit, we need a bank account for our wages, so we are forced to use them.

Hereward

oscar52 wrote: »

You'll note in my signature I have a card and loan with cahoot - a company who have no branches (though are a division of abbey) and issue no paper statements - therefore I have no way of paying them other than by direct debit. I believe it is also in the T&C's of other providers (egg springs to mind) that a DD has to be set up on account opening. So while you are not forced to pay for everything by DD or SO, sometimes there is no choice.

Also, as you admit, we need a bank account for our wages, so we are forced to use them.

I agree that there are something that require you to pay by direct debit, but you are not forced to have those items (that is you have a choice in having them or not). You could have easily opened a different CC or account that does not require internet access.

I did admit that you may need an account to have your wages paid, but you don't need one after that.

setmefree

but without an account how many companies charge you a non direct debit admin fee,Talk Talk,B.T, are to name but a few,

Around 3bn direct debit payments worth £883m were made last year, up 5% on the previous year.
But consumers are questioning whether it is fair that administration charges can be as much as £5 for anyone who refuses to pay by direct debit.
These charges discriminate against the 1.3m households — many of whom are poor and elderly — who do not have bank accounts. Other customers do not like paying by direct debit because they want complete control over their bills and household budget

Hereward

setmefree wrote: »

but without an account how many companies charge you a non direct debit admin fee,Talk Talk,B.T, are to name but a few,

Around 3bn direct debit payments worth £883m were made last year, up 5% on the previous year.
But consumers are questioning whether it is fair that administration charges can be as much as £5 for anyone who refuses to pay by direct debit.
These charges discriminate against the 1.3m households — many of whom are poor and elderly — who do not have bank accounts. Other customers do not like paying by direct debit because they want complete control over their bills and household budget

I have to admit I pay all of my bills by DD where ever possible, as then I don't have to remember to pay them. I do, however, monitor their value and if I think that the company in question wants too much, I contact them and let them know. I haven't found a company yet that would discuss this with me.

I think that is only fair that the cost of payment method is borne by the payer, as offering various payment methods is a cost to each business and charging all customers for the highest cost method would mean unearned profit for the company.

setmefree

Hereward wrote: »

I think that is only fair that the cost of payment method is borne by the payer, as offering various payment methods is a cost to each business and charging all customers for the highest cost method would mean unearned profit for the company.

I disagree completely, I have an ongoing debate with talktalk, they charge me £3.50 per month for non direct on my landline account and my broadband account.
I pay these bills via their automatic payment system, each month i receive a threat letter off them non payment of broadband.
each month i phone them up and it's the same answer,oops both payments have been put off the landline account, and to make it worse they have blamed me for doing it wrong..that was until i recorded their automated system.:rotfl:proving that i was paying the broadband bill.
So in turn i asked them why have i been charged an admin fee when clearly no admin had taken place, customer service declined to answer:D

setmefree

But the best of all has to be the statement below

As part of our commitment to the environment and to cut identity fraud, we are reducing the number of paper statements we send. From 1st August 2007 accounts credited with an average of less than £500 per month will receive a paper statement every three months. Accounts with no transactions in the last 6 months will receive one paper statement per year. If you need a monthly statement, you can receive this online by registering at www.halifax-online.co.uk
Now forgive me if i'm wrong, but does this mean that those having their accounts credited with more than £500 a month dont effect the environment with their statements, and does fraud mainly take place with those who have under £500 a month in their accounts???

setmefree

Oops views changing already

A senior executive with a rival bank said: 'They're saying they're culling people because they've got poor credit history, but that's not what they're doing; that seems duplicitous.' But he added that Egg is recognised in the banking world as having a large number of customers with high debt.
(fighting amongst the ranks already)

Angela Knight, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, said that Egg's action was "a sensible way of looking after a business".

BUT NOW

A spokesman for the British Bankers' Association said: 'It's conceivable that with that number of people there are some who have been wrongly contacted. Anyone who believes this should contact Egg( they have Egg don't want to know)
( Does Angela Knight know this)

Fedz

oscar52 wrote: »

I didnt see this statement before, but I dont believe people do have a choice.

For example, how many employers would be willing to pay you in cash, rather then a BACS transfer.

There are also many other payments that can only be made by Direct Debit or Standing order - ie Internet connection, loan payments etc.

In essence, in more ways than one, we are forced to have some sort of bank account.

A saying goes sometimes you have to make sacrifices for your beliefs

Some people want their bread buttered on both sides or ague one point but, do another ...

One can use a credit union or building society for example

Mark7799

Most building societies will offer pass book accounts which are capable of having salary payments mandated to them.

setmefree

So Fedz what is your views on this

As part of our commitment to the environment and to cut identity fraud, we are reducing the number of paper statements we send. From 1st August 2007 accounts credited with an average of less than £500 per month will receive a paper statement every three months. Accounts with no transactions in the last 6 months will receive one paper statement per year. If you need a monthly statement, you can receive this online by registering at www.halifax-online.co.uk
Now forgive me if i'm wrong, but does this mean that those having their accounts credited with more than £500 a month dont effect the environment with their statements, and does fraud mainly take place with those who have under £500 a month in their accounts???