Free banking to end?



Darlo1973 said:
The UK is actually rare in offering free banking.

Maybe customer service would be better if we actually paid for it.
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I'm with ING over here (NL), and they charge me around €3 a month for my account (a standard account). It's bizarre as their branches are cashless, I have to go to a special ATM to actually pay cash into my account, and it charges me €6 for the privilege!!

Customer service was so so even before their branch in my town closed and I have to now drive 16 miles to the nearest city branch.
 
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buster said:
If they stopped asking you why do you want to withdraw your own money might be a start.
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They only do that if its a large amount to prevent people being scammed. As there isn't really any reason these days to withdraw large sums of cash.
 
nessen said:
The threat to free banking has always been how banks use our cash to make investments. If they’re banned from doing this, they’ve always threatens a charge. If they start charging I hope the gov/regs stop them investing current account money.
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There are inestments and investments.

Obviously the banks have to use the money to make a profit and that is by borrowing and lending.

During the ‘banking crisis’ the retail arms of the major banks were still running profitably..ie. the bits where they borrow from you in order to lend it to me for a mortgage or loan etc.

It was the ’treasury’ parts of the banks that were in trouble, and basically they were gambling with the money. That should never have been allowed,
 
SMD said:
I'm with ING over here (NL), and they charge me around €3 a month for my account (a standard account). It's bizarre as their branches are cashless, I have to go to a special ATM to actually pay cash into my account, and it charges me €6 for the privilege!!

Customer service was so so even before their branch in my town closed and I have to now drive 16 miles to the nearest city branch.
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Pay nowt over here in cz and SK mind, free global ATM withdrawals aswell
 
3.142 said:
Forced to keep some of them open so have to recover the cost from somewhere.
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Forced to recover the cost of having to provide a face to face service with some extra accountability :lol::lol:

Fuck knows how they've survived for so long, giving us such a selfless service...
 
SMD said:
I'm with ING over here (NL), and they charge me around €3 a month for my account (a standard account). It's bizarre as their branches are cashless, I have to go to a special ATM to actually pay cash into my account, and it charges me €6 for the privilege!!

Customer service was so so even before their branch in my town closed and I have to now drive 16 miles to the nearest city branch.
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And do you get any perks for that? Ie favourable interest on savings, cashback on spends etc? As if not, thats an absolute piss take. What do rival banks offer?

Over here, free banking mainly happened because one bank offered it, and the rest followed. The direction of travel points towards this not happening as fairly recently the likes of Starling & Monzo started offering 0% commission on foreign transactions. And guess what, the rest of the banks are following suit. It'll be very difficult to put the genie back into the bottle on this one
 
nessen said:
The threat to free banking has always been how banks use our cash to make investments. If they’re banned from doing this, they’ve always threatens a charge. If they start charging I hope the gov/regs stop them investing current account money.
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It is already banned under the "ring fencing" rules which separate retail banking from investment operations.

www.bankofengland.co.uk

Ring-fencing

Ring-fencing came into force on 1 January 2019. It requires the largest banking groups’ to separate core retail banking services from activities such as investment and international banking.
www.bankofengland.co.uk www.bankofengland.co.uk
 
42 said:
And do you get any perks for that? Ie favourable interest on savings, cashback on spends etc? As if not, thats an absolute piss take. What do rival banks offer?

Over here, free banking mainly happened because one bank offered it, and the rest followed. The direction of travel points towards this not happening as fairly recently the likes of Starling & Monzo started offering 0% commission on foreign transactions. And guess what, the rest of the banks are following suit. It'll be very difficult to put the genie back into the bottle on this one
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I get nothing at all for it. Other banks also charge. They even charge you extra for another debit card, for example if a family member needs one.
 
42 said:
They only do that if its a large amount to prevent people being scammed. As there isn't really any reason these days to withdraw large sums of cash.
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No it's for AML purposes as well. Same as when you try and deposit a large amount of cash, especially if it's in Northern Irish or Scottish notes ;)
 
Billy2Sheds said:
No it's for AML purposes as well. Same as when you try and deposit a large amount of cash, especially if it's in Northern Irish or Scottish notes ;)
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Not just AML but broader Financial Crime, though that in itself is another significant burden for the banks to manage. Controls to try and detect and prevent financial crime generally have the worst success rate and return ever across the industry.
 
Let them end it, imagine employer having to pay you in cash like they used too. Post Office would love it, the q to pay bills :) Not going to happen, is it? Imagine those credit/debit card fees retailers pay vanishing :) Bollocks thread
 
Big Jeff said:
I would happily pay for higher quality banking with UK based call centres.
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Last time I called a bank? Last time I went to a bank? Banks have call centres? Why? UK based? Why call a bank when you can query online. Nobody uses bank premises any more, that's why they are all shutting down. UK Call centres? Are you having a laugh?
 
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