Banking fees
Now, this isn’t going to be an entirely unbiased view, as I am currently working for a UK bank. In fact, I have worked for all but one of the major UK banking groups in my time.
I am getting a bit pissed off with all the ‘get your fees back from the money grabbing banks’ which has been going on recently. And the attention given to the industry and fees it charges.
Don’t get me wrong - I think in most cases they have been set far too high - and I have been on the end of the bounced Direct Debit for £15, and being charged £20 for it! But a quick call to the bank, and they reversed the fee. The next time it happened, they gave me half of it back. After that, I had to pay.
This, I think is fair. The banks quite clearly state what they are going to charge if you commit an ‘offence’. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.
Banks are not charities. They are businesses. They are in it to make a profit. And make a profit they will.
So, now we are seeing the introduction of annual fees. It is starting gradually, with many of the banks charging for ‘low usage’. But mark my words, the end of ‘free’ credit cards is coming to an end.
And why? Because the banks *will* make money, and now they can’t make it off people who can’t follow the rules. So instead they are making it from the people who do follow the rules. It doesn’t seem fair to me. You pay less in insurance if you are less of a risk. It used to be the way with banks, but not for much longer.
I don’t go into Sainsburys, buy a loaf of bread for 75p each week, then after 6 months sue them for charging me more than it costs them to make/bake/package and sell me the bread. This is what is basically happening to banks charges.