- 28
- Feb
Despite the fact that banks are set to report record profits this week, they are preparing to add a user fee to their current accounts. Financial authorities are claiming that it is only a matter of time before free banking is a thing of the past.
The Evening Standard reported record profits of £337 billion for banks in 2006. There have been hints from iva.co.uk that banks will stop free accounts. To date, no bank has refuted the claims or denied that a decision is likely.
The people who will be bear the brunt of the decision will be the poor, debt burdened, and financially uneducated.
Alison Melville, spokesperson for Iva.co.uk said:
“The people who it is going to penalise are the poor … It’s crazy because it’s asking for money from the people who don’t have it,” she said.
Ms Melville concluded by stating that banks are trying to remove their “dead wood” – the people who cannot afford to pay. This is paramount to denying affordable banking to society’s poorest.
This is offset by calls from inside the industry for financial providers to improve their customer service.
Ed Mayo, chief executive of the National Consumer Council, stated that banks should provide better services for those that rely on them, the elderly, people with disabilities and those on low income. Mr. Mayo argued that many “fail” to tailor these products to people’s needs.
“It’s high time that the banks’ world-class profits came with world-class customer service,” he claimed.
Charging a fee for accounts is a step away from customer service.
