Are our banks totally failing us as customers?
| Related: | Personal Finance•Money•Current Accounts |
According to this news item on the BBC News site's front page...
'Retail banking in the UK is not competitive enough, a Commons Treasury committee report has concluded.
The cross-party group of MPs said there was a lack of price transparency between current accounts at different banks and it was too difficult for customers to move their accounts.'
The key findings of this report are:
1 Big banks too dominant in retail and business banking
2 Account charges not transparent
3 Free banking "not free"
4 Switching process cumbersome
5 Government should prioritise competition
Do you agree?
The complete BBC article can be found here...
Responses (4)
Well Fruitcake I read the BBC report and you have to read it a couple of times to get the direction that the report goes in.
The use of the word 'oligopoly' was interesting as I had to Google it to again get the gist of it all. I have grown up with my bank HSBC from when I was a student at 19 ( the beloved Midland then ) to the current day when banking is more of an 'electronic facility' without the kudos of actually being recognised as someone who 'merits a bank account'. That certainly was the case years ago when you needed a reference to open an account and it was also subject to an interview with the branch manager. How times have changed!
But as I see it, I get a good service for no charge. What I don't get anymore is the opportunity to see someone in person for routine enquiries. We used to have lovely customer service ladies at our local branch that seem to have gone forever.
So are the bank failing us? I don't know the answer to that and without the Treasury report, I would actually not have thought about it. But what I am seeing is the lack of value banks put on their account holders. Perhaps in a way, that is a failing, but it is also all part of the natural progression towards the dearth of customer care.
If the banks are made to prioritise competition, how would that appeal to the end user I wonder? Would we see all accounts in credit suddenly pay 'average balance interest'? And would the not so well off find their penalty charges a lot softer? In a way, it's like switching energy companies to get more competitive rates ... nothing is guaranteed in the future.
Yes, the big banks are dominant in retail and business banking, but that's where then 'oligopoly' comes in. But in conclusion, perhaps we do need a 'customers charter' that all banks and building societies have to adhere to. And from that, the banks can decide if they adhere to it or function better than the minimum costs and standards prescribed by actually being seen to be 'competitive'.
But to start with, how about the bankers 'fantasy' bonuses being trimmed by 99%? No one in any paid job should be entitled to receive 'lottery wins' of such magnitude every year, purely for doing a job for which they are paid. It is obscene that people like me who are subject to a two year public sector pay freeze should have to read about such people who almost defy logic. So start with that and work down until account holders become valued again.
The banks are as snoops says an oligopoly - no-one can seem to regulate them.
Disgraceful that the directors and other dirty cash men are getting millions in bonuses when their front line staff are getting canned.
The government made a mistake bailing them out - they should have been left to sort themselves out - Do you think they couldnt have lol
What a big joke.
Get the government to bail them out by crying wolf!
Never believe a beggar with a rolex who comes with cap in hand!
Omen, it was the Chairman of the Commons Treasury Committee who described the big banks as an 'oligopoly', not Snoops! :-)
Sorry to disappoint you but i heard it was Snoopy who told the Chairman!
>;o)
Lol, Omen, that's a classic! There goes my coffee again... :-)
Time for some Nescafe-pants then?
Must admit I dont often drink the granule coffee but the new Nescafe Parisien is lovely.
Always did like Gold Blend 37.
Freshly ground is best though!
Fruity, what on earth are you doing drinking coffee when the sun is well and truly over the yardarm?
Carte Noir pants for me, Omen.
Sobering up, Feline! ;-)
Ooooooh Feline .... I so love it when you talk shirty ....
OK, understood, fruits! Better go and dig out my Gold Blend pants for later.
Shirty, moi?
Yes, yes and yes they have failed us. That is why credit unions are an alternative these days especially for those on lower incomes. Moreover, membership rules have been loosened.
Yes, CS, credit unions are a good idea, and will be invaluable over the next few years for many people.
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A very well thought out response, Snoops.
Yes, I had to google 'oligopoly' as well. If anyone else wants to know what it means...
'A market dominated by just a small number of firms (oligopolists) and where entry of new competitors is difficult or impossible'.
The point was made in the news piece that Metro Bank was the first UK high street bank in 100 years!
You're right, Snoops, about having to 'merit' a bank account in the past. As newlyweds many moons ago, my husband and I had to request a joint current account from the bank manager. He deemed us 'worthy' and gave us a chequebook, but we had to prove we could be responsible with it before he allowed us a cheque guarantee card!
I think the point about the banks being made to prioritise competition is about genuine competition between them, instead of customers being bamboozled by weirdly worked out overdraft charges on different banks' current accounts, for instance, so that we, the customers, can compare different accounts properly etc.
As for competitive customer service in banks, yes please!
I would also personally like to see commission sales of bank products outlawed! A close friend of mine works for HSBC and I was shocked at how much of his 'salary' is based on commission for 'selling' accounts to HSBC customers!
I could go on, but I won't...I'm interested in what others think, after all, we all moan about banks, but in what ways do we want them to change? Bankers' obscene bonuses being outlawed taken as read, of course! Three members of my immediate family work in the public sector, Snoops, so I sympathise totally.
My goodnes snnops you are truly the War and Peace poster thats a monster.
You should get paid by Hannah and team for taking such a while to write your replies in such depth and length.
Im exhausted just reading that lot!
I bet you have RSI!
>;O)
I spent most of my working life in the public sector, so 'bonus' isn't really in my vocabulary. We did our jobs and we got paid.
When I reached the dizzy heights of management I had to undergo an appraisal interview each year to determine whether or not I merited a pay rise. Fortunately for me I was always able to demonstrate some level of achievement so my salary kept up with inflation.
This would perhaps be a good way forward in industry today.
Metro Bank the first in 100 years? So when the Leeds and Halifax building societies merged and applied to become a bank they didn't qualfy? Anyhow it gave them a piercing one liner.
I've just spent a couple of hours perusing various current account offers and I have to say that I don't agree with everything in that report. There is competition to get your business and the charges are very transparent. I haven't tried the switching process but they all claim to handle it all for you.
Sealate, in case you didn't see it, there was a very useful article in this week's money.co.uk newsletter about current account switching.
Yes thanks, I did see it and that is what prompted me to take a look and I am glad I did.