Written evidence submitted by Ian Kerry
As with trying to work out which utility company
is the cheapest, it is very complex to work out whether one bank
is cheaper that the rest. And then once you have made a decision
it is hugely complex to change banks. Opening new accounts (mainly
I assume for terrorism and laundering on money issues) is very
long winded. When I changed my business accounts from Abbey to
Co-op 18 months ago, I regretted doing so on several occasions.
Could there be a set number of fees and charges that
all banks had to produce so that the poor consumer could see at
a glance how competitive each account/bank was? Mind you they
seem to change the fees etc fairly often. Perhaps they should
be allowed to anytime they want but hold them the same for a 24
month period.
This probably has nothing to do with the enquiry
but the situation of when you do an online transfer and get one
digit wrong on the sort code. At the moment the bank KEEPS this
money (even if the account doesn't exist). They don't return it
(even though the name on the account and the account code differ).
They don't let you know that there has been an error. So after
five months from me paying £10k corporation tax, thinking
the government has been paid, I receive a letter from HMRC saying
why hasn't it been paid? It seems one digit was wrong, the bank
keeps the money, gets the interest, tells no-one, takes a further
two months (and counting) to get the money back. AND ALL THIS
IS LEGAL!!!!
I will put aside all my anger at the bonuses bankers
are still receiving when the rest of the country are losing their
jobs or suffering cutbacks. Either you guys can't do anything
about it or you find it acceptable, either way it makes the whole
country angry!
September 2010
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