Bank charges

[framheim]

i get what people are saying about it being our own fault but i think the problem most people have with bank charges is the disproportionate charges. most of the time i've been over my limit it's been by under a pound and for no longer than two days(usually i check my bank balance every couple of days online or only go over a day before i get paid). now to get charged £30 for this seems unduly harsh. surely everyone can agree that this is a frankly ridiculous amount to charge for a few pence over and for only a short time.

banks make their money by fleecing their customers for every penny they can get and by selling loans and credit cards to people who either don't need em or can't afford em. they are not doing us a favour, they are businesses making astonishing profits surpassed perhaps only by oil companies. unfortunately it's increasingly hard to function without a bank account in the modern world but it doesn't mean we have to put up with this shit.

don't come crying to this thread when the sanctimonious "don't spend what you don't have" crowd in this thread suffer extortion for a slight oversight.

[Hugh_Jazz]

I had an account with Clydesdale a few years ago with a 500 overdraft. It was cheeky enough that they charged me a "maintenance charge" of about 10 every month just for me having the overdraft facility in the first place......it was made worse when at the very end of the month, just before pay-day, i was 495 overdrawn.....they then decided to charge me the 10 monthly maintenance, putting me 5 over the 500 limit, and then the twats proceeded to fleece another 30 off me for exceeding my overdraft limit....knowing full well that i would get paid the following day.

I closed the account the following day.

[Lemonade]

So tell the bank that you're going to have problems if it comes off. Banks aren't utterly unreasonable - if you tell them there's a problem' date=' they'll be more than happy to sort it out for you.[/quote']

Just like to make a small correction there cloud.

BANKS ARE THE FUCKING DEVIL :devil:

[666]

i get what people are saying about it being our own fault but i think the problem most people have with bank charges is the disproportionate charges. most of the time i've been over my limit it's been by under a pound and for no longer than two days(usually i check my bank balance every couple of days online or only go over a day before i get paid). now to get charged 30 for this seems unduly harsh. surely everyone can agree that this is a frankly ridiculous amount to charge for a few pence over and for only a short time.

banks make their money by fleecing their customers for every penny they can get and by selling loans and credit cards to people who either don't need em or can't afford em. they are not doing us a favour' date=' they are businesses making astonishing profits surpassed perhaps only by oil companies. unfortunately it's increasingly hard to function without a bank account in the modern world but it doesn't mean we have to put up with this shit.

don't come crying to this thread when the sanctimonious "don't spend what you don't have" crowd in this thread suffer extortion for a slight oversight.[/quote']

true....but the smaller the amount the more stupid you should feel for spending that amount on something trivial like a mars bar (for example).

i think it's all in proportion.

the morale of the story is "don't get into that mess in the first place".

surely, it can't be tremendously difficult to manage ones' finances as well as practicing a little self-discipline, no?

[MattJimF]

true....but the smaller the amount the more stupid you should feel for spending that amount on something trivial like a mars bar (for example).

i think it's all in proportion.

the morale of the story is "don't get into that mess in the first place".

surely' date=' it can't be tremendously difficult to manage ones' finances as well as practicing a little self-discipline, no?[/quote']

Im sorry but that's bollocks. How many people get their pay to the whole £10? Who gets taxed exactly £5 and has exactly £5 national insurance taken off their wages? (figures for example purposes only).

NO ONE

Yet you seem to think that it all boils down to someone saying

"I need a mars bar, but i don't have money. Hang on i'll go into the bank and take out 50p to buy one."

Next day they have a direct debit refused because they took 50p out to buy a mars bar, then get charged £28 quid for being overdrawn, £35 for being even more overdrawn then the real kick in the teeth when they get told another £35 will be taken off as it's now a new month!

Pull your head out the clouds and come back down to earth, oh and if you do know someone who gets paid whole pounds to the nearest £10 i'd love to see their payslip.

[Cloud]

Yet you seem to think that it all boils down to someone saying

"I need a mars bar' date=' but i don't have money. Hang on i'll go into the bank and take out 50p to buy one."

Next day they have a direct debit refused because they took 50p out to buy a mars bar, then get charged £28 quid for being overdrawn, £35 for being even more overdrawn then the real kick in the teeth when they get told another £35 will be taken off as it's now a new month!

Pull your head out the clouds and come back down to earth, oh and if you do know someone who gets paid whole pounds to the nearest £10 i'd love to see their payslip.[/quote']

Thing is, if you go overdrawn by a couple of quid by a mistake, going into the bank and explaining nicely to the person behind the counter usually yields results. There's no need to get into the mess of recurring charges if you explain the problem to them as soon as it arises - the problems arise when you try and ignore it and hope it goes away.

Another reason - if you know that you're about to get a direct debit rejected, wouldn't it make sense to call the company and ask them not to process it? It's better than sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away, right?

Edit : Bank charges are how the bank makes money on your account - they make very little money from personal accounts, especially ones that are constantly overdrawn, so surely getting free personal banking subject to ridiculous charges is fair enough, really?

[Frosty Jack]

Thing is' date=' if you go overdrawn by a couple of quid by a mistake, going into the bank and explaining nicely to the person behind the counter usually yields results. There's no need to get into the mess of recurring charges if you explain the problem to them as soon as it arises - the problems arise when you try and ignore it and hope it goes away.

Another reason - if you know that you're about to get a direct debit rejected, wouldn't it make sense to call the company and ask them not to process it? It's better than sticking your head in the sand and hoping the problem will go away, right?

Edit : Bank charges are how the bank makes money on your account - they make very little money from personal accounts, especially ones that are constantly overdrawn, so surely getting free personal banking subject to ridiculous charges is fair enough, really?[/quote']

Meanwhile, in the real world...

[666]

Im sorry but that's bollocks. How many people get their pay to the whole 10? Who gets taxed exactly 5 and has exactly 5 national insurance taken off their wages? (figures for example purposes only).

NO ONE

Yet you seem to think that it all boils down to someone saying

"I need a mars bar' date=' but i don't have money. Hang on i'll go into the bank and take out 50p to buy one."

Next day they have a direct debit refused because they took 50p out to buy a mars bar, then get charged 28 quid for being overdrawn, 35 for being even more overdrawn then the real kick in the teeth when they get told another 35 will be taken off as it's now a new month!

Pull your head out the clouds and come back down to earth, oh and if you do know someone who gets paid whole pounds to the nearest 10 i'd love to see their payslip.[/quote']

yes, why not?

i pretty much do all my shopping with Chip & Pin.

and if someone knows they have direct debits coming off or if they are in overdraft, they should always have money in their bank account as a fall-save. but no, we always seem to want to spend money that we DON'T ACTUALLY HAVE.

and my head is pretty much down to earth.

behind a RBS counter, thank you very much.

[Cloud]

Meanwhile' date=' in the real world...[/quote']

Worked for me before, but that might be related to paying them £7 a month for a better account and generally not using my overdraft. I just don't see the point in letting the charges build up - if there's a problem, surely it makes sense to let them know as soon as it arises, rather than hoping it'll clear itself up?

What's that saying, there's no such thing as a free lunch or something? The banks have to make money somehow - if you're consistently clearing your account out on a monthly basis and using a shitload of standing orders/using cheques/etc and costing them money to maintain the account, is it any wonder that they sting people in charges?

Do people not realise that if the banks stop charging £30 for things like unpaid direct debits, then the money will have to come from somewhere else? A case in point - there's a new system that's evolved where you can pay in your own currency when using your visa card abroad. It's great, you can see the total amount in your own currency rather than the local currency and pay that amount, without the banks getting to put a markup on the exchange rate. So...what have the banks done, now that they're not making money on foreign currency transactions? They're now stinging you £1 for each foreign transaction. Which is downright rubbish, but it's just the nature of the beast.

If the banks can't get £30 out of unpaid direct debits, then the next thing you're going to see is direct debits being charged for at some point, which will end up coming out of our collective pockets - so now everyone is being charged because of the idiots, great, just what I wanted.

[HummerOfIntenseEvil]

Have any of you lot heard of internet banking?

The one time I've been in debt (about 9.17), I was able to rectify it the same day by just tranferring money from one account to the other. All done in a couple of minutes from my home.

Money management has never been so simple!

Also, surely it's not THAT hard to keep track of what direct debits you have, and when they get taken off? There's always SOME sort of logic to them, if its not a straightforward same-date-every-month scenario. And the direct debit guarantee states that if they take the money early, you can chase them up for it.

Dare I say that if you've not got an adequate, constant flow of money, you shouldn't be having direct debits anyway...?

[666]

Have any of you lot heard of internet banking?

The one time I've been in debt (about 9.17)' date=' I was able to rectify it the same day by just tranferring money from one account to the other. All done in a couple of minutes from my home.

Money management has never been so simple!

Also, surely it's not THAT hard to keep track of what direct debits you have, and when they get taken off? There's always SOME sort of logic to them, if its not a straightforward same-date-every-month scenario. And the direct debit guarantee states that if they take the money early, you can chase them up for it.

Dare I say that if you've not got an adequate, constant flow of money, you shouldn't be having direct debits anyway...?[/quote']

YES!!!!!

[threeornothing]

The Aberdeen Music Financial Advisors are at it again....

Kids will never understand adult money problems...

[MattJimF]

Have any of you lot heard of internet banking?

The one time I've been in debt (about 9.17)' date=' I was able to rectify it the same day by just tranferring money from one account to the other. All done in a couple of minutes from my home.

Money management has never been so simple!

[/quote']

Thats all well and good if you have two accounts with the same bank, if it's two different banks as some people have, you soon find the simple task of transferring money from one account to another in a couple of minutes online takes 5 days in real time.

[framheim]

Have any of you lot heard of internet banking?

The one time I've been in debt (about 9.17)' date=' I was able to rectify it the same day by just tranferring money from one account to the other. All done in a couple of minutes from my home.

Money management has never been so simple!

Also, surely it's not THAT hard to keep track of what direct debits you have, and when they get taken off? There's always SOME sort of logic to them, if its not a straightforward same-date-every-month scenario. And the direct debit guarantee states that if they take the money early, you can chase them up for it.

Dare I say that if you've not got an adequate, constant flow of money, you shouldn't be having direct debits anyway...?[/quote']

oh for fuck sake. anyone else want to patronise us in this thread?

do you not think we've tried all that? i've been into my bank and spoken to them, i've phoned the head office and i've transfered money on the same day and still they charge me.

get a grip the lot of you, sometimes people spend a little bit too much. it's easy done, you forget about that boots meal deal you bought on switch two days ago and take out a tenner to go to a gig thinking that you'll be fine till you get paid the day after next and then before you know it you're 20p over your overdraft limit and down another 30. sorry we're not all financially perfect like the rest of you.

[soundian]

For the people sticking up for the banks:

I think the point some people are trying to make is the scale of the charge, not the actual charge itself. I'm sure any reasonable person wouldn't mind paying e.g. 5 if they went a few pence/pounds past their limit. Make the punishment fit the crime, as it were.

What does the 30 cover anyway. I can imagine it would've involved a lot of typing and manual checking of the figures before computers, but what does it cost to send a letter telling someone them they're overdrawn today? Apart from the postage, practically nothing.

[Bass Cadet]

Thats all well and good if you have two accounts with the same bank' date=' if it's two different banks as some people have, you soon find the simple task of transferring money from one account to another in a couple of minutes online takes 5 days in real time.[/quote']

Or if you dont have the internet! I only have internet access at work, and my banks website is 'websense restricted' and I therefore have no way of doing online banking. Come to think of it I don't have a landline at home either so phone banking is harder too. I also work 13 days out of 14 so getting to the bank is problematic - Thats how I run into problems and I'm sure I can't be the only one in that situation.

[Spoonie]

For the people sticking up for the banks:

I think the point some people are trying to make is the scale of the charge' date=' not the actual charge itself. I'm sure any reasonable person wouldn't mind paying e.g. 5 if they went a few pence/pounds past their limit. Make the punishment fit the crime, as it were.

What does the 30 cover anyway. I can imagine it would've involved a lot of typing and manual checking of the figures before computers, but what does it cost to send a letter telling someone them they're overdrawn today? Apart from the postage, practically nothing.[/quote']

it has been widely discussed that it costs banks 50p to send out an automated letter to tell you that you've exceeded your limit and they shaft you 30 for it. not kosher.

and as has been said, people need to stop acting the cunt in this thread and realise that sometimes accidents do happen and if you expect to go through life without rnuning into any kind of financial difficulties, you're sadly mistaken. i hope that the next time you go half a penny over because some cunt of a company takes money from your account on the wrong day, both the company and the bank refuse to admit their mistake and then you get charged a half a million pounnd 'i'm a cunt' tax and then get a shotgun blast to the face.

/x

[666]

i hope that the next time you go half a penny over because some cunt of a company takes money from your account on the wrong day' date=' both the company and the bank refuse to admit their mistake and then you get charged a half a million pounnd 'i'm a cunt' tax and then get a shotgun blast to the face.

/x[/quote']

i hope so too.

if i was overdrawn by half a penny i too would definetly consider suicide to "pay" for my foolishness.

but really, only if you get seriously overdrawn, you're actually getting your moneys worth. which is why people should see suicide as an option for stupidly small amounts of overdraft.

[Hog]

I cant believe....actually I can believe that people think you should never be overdrawn and its "easy" to keep on top of your bank account.

Yes, its easy for me to know how much is in my account, when money comes off, etc etc but Im lucky enough to have a job. This, however, does not make much difference if you are a student who has 3 in his/her bank account, no food in the flat etc. What you going to do?

Bank charges are never an issue if you are taking in plenty money and are on top of your finances but squillions of people flirt with being very close to the overdraft limit, not because they are careless, just because they simply dont have lots of money coming in every month. Charging people with a low income i.e. students, low wage earners 30/40 a time just fucks these people over, especially when its a person who is not just being careless and doesnt care about being overdrawn.

[Guest Hon Jonda]

If you want a credit report go to www.creditexpert.co.uk

[threeornothing]

I paid £2 to that experian place and they couldn't actually send me a credit report. Nice waste of £2.

[EchelonDivision]

I work for the Clydesdale. You sign a contract which makes you Legally liable to pay bank charges. It is your responsibility to maintain your account, not theres.

[framheim]

I work for the Clydesdale. You sign a contract which makes you Legally liable to pay bank charges. It is your responsibility to maintain your account' date=' not theres.[/quote']

yes we get that. but it's the banks responsibility to not fleece their customers with unreasonable charges. have you not read this thread or did you just immediately want to jump to your employers defence?

[Spoonie]

there are a number of threads which are almost exact replicas of this on alternative nation! someone mentions bank charges, anti-student chat starts, usual 'it's your own fault' chat starts, people who work for banks jump to their employers defense. same old same old!

/x

[Cloud]

yes we get that. but it's the banks responsibility to not fleece their customers with unreasonable charges. have you not read this thread or did you just immediately want to jump to your employers defence?

Are the charges really that unreasonable though? If the charges are subsidising you with free personal banking, cheap telephone banking (I can phone my bank for the cost of a local call and talk to a real person, without being held on hold for hours, and get them to do anything and tell me anything over the phone...quite good deal AND it's usually a UK person on the line), free direct debits, free standing orders, no charges to withdraw cash from a lot of bank machines, free use of a debit card and so on, is it really that unreasonable to hit people with charges in order to make some profit from the account?