Apparently the CMA don’t go far enough…
Which! think we should be nudged to change our banks. There was a talking head on the BBC complaining that we don’t do this often enough. Indeed, some people haven’t changed their bank account in twenty years. My father can do better than that; fifty years…
Actually, when his bank cocked up once back in the seventies, I’d have walked. He didn’t. He knew well enough how to, but chose to forgive and forget. His decision. Since then, I’ve switched on a number of occasions when I’ve been unhappy with the service.
So, yes, I am perfectly capable of changing when it suits me. I’ve had my current account (ahem) for nearly twenty years. It’s just fine. If it isn’t, then I’ll do the necessary. I do not need to be nudged, I do not need Which! or, worse, the state, patronising me and treating me like an infant. I am well aware that if I use my overdraft facility, it will cost me. That’s how it works. It tends to concentrate my mind and I remain in the black.
Apparently, according to the talking head, people who go into the red subsidise those who manage their affairs more effectively. Well, duh! During my dark days, I existed on overdraft and paid for the facility. Now, I am in the black and don’t.
If my bank is forced to nag me to change my account, I will be royally pissed off.
Instead, the preliminary findings of the inquiry, which will be finalised next May, focused on ways to encourage customers to switch provider. Customers should be sent text messages to warn them if they were going overdrawn and prompt them to look for better offers. Banks that make mistakes – such as through IT shutdowns – could also be forced to suggest that customers seek better deals elsewhere. Some of these ideas are to be tested on account holders.
Oh, please! Piss off, already. Just go away! I do not need you or anyone else to nudge me, cajole me or decide on my behalf what is competitive. Have we really become so infantilised? Really?
Indeed, I will make a point of not changing if this happens. I will also ensure that I opt out of all but the most necessary communications. No, I do not want spammy texts or to be told about alternatives unless I specifically seek them out.
Which! and, indeed, the CMA, frankly, can nudge off. I choose not to change my bank account. It suits me just fine. Now go away and mind your own business.
What the dumb idiots also dont get is that if you switch from bank to bank you will:
a) have innumberable problems with switching simply because the anti money laundering regulations are now so draconian (and will only get worse) that the slightest doubt as to your honesty will give the banks a reason to decline you.
b) they keep records – they have to thats another set of regulations. If you left them two years ago for someone better, they aren’t likey to give you a second chance.
b) have a negative impact on your credit rating
Bank accounts aren’t like energy providers. Energy is a commodity that any company with a large enough customer base can make money from. They dont own the infrastructure for the supply, they pay a tariff to the National Gird/British Gas. Banks have to have the infrastructure in place to make the payments, keep the records, blah blah blah. They dont make money out of current accounts in credit – they cant in the current interest rate environment. They make money out of the additional services (overdrafts, insurance, mortgages). If you leave them for a better offer, they lose money. So eventually they will all stop offering nice attractive joining bonuses and start charging you money – just like they should.
Like you, I have had a current account with one bank for 20 years. The service is intermittently sub-standard for which I will complain (and be recompensed) but not enough to make me leave. This is because they provide what I want. To get a similar level of bank account from a bank to whom I might switch will be problematic, time consuming and potentially expensive, so I wont do it unless they really, truly fuck up. What I will do is use other banks for my own purposes. I opened a Santander 1-2-3 account to pay phone/council tax/energy bills because the bonus I could get outweighed the £2/month fee. Now they are raising the monthly fee to £5 I lose out so I will close the Santander account. I may choose to switch to someone if I can find a nice sweetener deal – I think First Direct are offering £100 for a switch – might go there. But I wont do it because some numpty sends me a text message saying “have you looked at out comptetitors they might offer something better than we do”.
“…because the anti money laundering regulations are now so draconian (and will only get worse) that the slightest doubt as to your honesty will give the banks a reason to decline you…”
Ah, but’s that’s only when it suits the banks. Truth is, they don’t really want the hassle of offering “Joe Soap” current accounts – they would rather be casino banksters fiddling LIBOR and generally making humongous amounts of money for themselves, and shovelling millions at a time around to assist their wealthier patrons to evade tax, launder ill-gotten gains etc., and sod the rest of us.
A pox on them all and a plague on all their houses!
Which would be better employed campaigning for a ‘standard’ option for most ‘offers’ in banking, insurance, energy and communications. The suppliers would be free to make up various ‘packages’ too but for most of us ‘standard’ would be fine and readily comparable between different suppliers.
The present situation is like going into a pub for a ‘pint of beer’ and finding that it isn’t a pint or beer, while the next pub is selling three pints for the price of two, except that their price is 20% more than the pub across the road. Competition maybe, but no-one is selling the same thing. This is especially important with something like insurance where the insurers ‘know’ the risks to the customers at large but the individual doesn’t know risks that they may be exposed to yet not covered against, or the risks they are covered for that ‘never’ happen.
“Banks that make mistakes – such as through IT shutdowns – could also be forced to suggest that customers seek better deals elsewhere. “
Hey, wait, don’t knock it! This is an utterly BRILLIANT idea!
We just need to extend it to government services. Then when Scottish police forget to switch on the fuel pumps and a helicopter kills my neighbour, I can say ‘Screw this! I want to be policed by the Northampton Farce instead!’.
And when Essex Council social services take some kiddie into care illegally, I can say ‘Right! I want social workers from Suffolk Council instead!’.
Can’t I..?
Oh. Right.