Is this theft?

[BoredBloke]

Absolute bull tulip.

Of course banking is free, for the vast majority of people.

Unless, of course, you break the terms of your credit agreement, and then there are penalties which subsidise the charge free banking for the people that don't.

If you don't like it, don't get into the position where you pay charges. Easy, eh?

So come on then. What rate of interest does your 'free' curent account give you?

There is a reason you get sod all interest out of it - becasue it's not free!

[MrRobin]

So come on then. What rate of interest does your 'free' curent account give you?

There is a reason you get sod all interest out of it - becasue it's not free!

There are plenty of current accounts that pay interest nowadays. Mine pays about 4% but there are a few about at the mo that pay 8%

[blacjac]

It's not that I can't manage money... I simply wasn't aware of the fact that they did that when I originally came here.

I'd rather pay a higher service fee and not have to worry about accidentally going over my limit all the time.

Sounds like you can't manage money to me.........

[51st State]

So come on then. What rate of interest does your 'free' curent account give you?

There is a reason you get sod all interest out of it - becasue it's not free!

Mine pays 6.17 gross on credit balances of up to £2.5k.

Other banks pay up to 8%, but are tied into gimmicks and are short term offers.

I tend to keep around this figure in my current account, the rest gets swept into various other accounts.

[BoredBloke]

There are plenty of current accounts that pay interest nowadays. Mine pays about 4% but there are a few about at the mo that pay 8%

At the HSBC the only current account which gives 8% is one involving a £12.95 monthly charge. So here you pay extra to get a higher rate.

Nicked from Nat West

Current Plus account, Step account & Cash account
Gross per year 0.10%
AER 0.10%
Net per year 0.08%

Advantage Gold account

Gross per year 0.25%
AER 0.25%
Net per year 0.20%

£12 a month, charged to your Advantage Gold account

[MrRobin]

Then don't use Natwest??

I pay a £15 fee on my account but for that I get mobile phone insurance, travel insurance and AA cover plus a bunch of other stuff I don't use but those 3 make it more than worth it. Infact because of my circumstances the travel insurance alone would make it good value.

[MrRobin]

The reason the banks can get away with the sh*te rates is because most people don't bother checking the rates or can be arsed to change banks. if more people voted with their feet then the market would be more competitive and these crap rates would die.

[51st State]

Then don't use Natwest??

I pay a £15 fee on my account but for that I get mobile phone insurance, travel insurance and AA cover plus a bunch of other stuff I don't use but those 3 make it more than worth it. Infact because of my circumstances the travel insurance alone would make it good value.

The reason the banks can get away with the sh*te rates is because most people don't bother checking the rates or can be arsed to change banks. if more people voted with their feet then the market would be more competitive and these crap rates would die.

You are Howard Brown from the Halifax adverts, and I claim my free mortgage arrears counselling session.

[SueEllen]

I wonder if you can ask the bank to prevent overdrafting - i.e refuse transactions.

RBS use to do something like that to my account when I was a student. It wasn't fun going to the supermarket and finding out that the cheque you had put in hadn't cleared.....

Then they brought Natwest and realised there was more money in the Natwest model.

[Sysman]

It is A&L!

How long do they take to clear cheques paid in? Many moons ago I tried Nationwide Anglia and there it took 10 days for money paid in by cheque to be available. This was a particular swine when I was setting off one Monday for a new contract and they rang up demanding cash to honour my mortgage payment.