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... I am rather upset. £10 a month is a lot to a student. My main bank account is with First Direct and I certainly don't earn £1500 a month.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6148776.stm
Are bank accounts usually free in other countries?
David
[Updated on: Wed, 15 November 2006 16:58] |
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First Direct is not applying the charge to all accounts. If they apply it to yours, vote with your feet. Banks thrive on inertia.
Hugs
N
I dream of boys with big bulges in their trousers,
Never of girls with big bulges in their blouses.
…and look forward to meeting you in Cóito.
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timmy
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Has no life at all |
Location: UK, in Devon
Registered: February 2003
Messages: 13800
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30 or so years ago UK banks charged you to have accounts. Competition reduced the charges to nothing. It's a cyclical thing. Charges will come back only to be removed as more competition hits.
Author of Queer Me! Halfway Between Flying and Crying - the true story of life for a gay boy in the Swinging Sixties in a British all male Public School
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I will wait and see. I shuffle money around a lot, so I have a lot of transactions on the account, but on average there isn't a huge amount in there. I also have a bit of money (but not a lot) in a savings account. That might save me.
David
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I have no charges for my checking acct, nor any of my savings accts. I even have rewards for using my check card. 1 point for every dollar I spend. I also get free checks for life, free online bill pay.
I use wellsfargo
http://www.wellsfargo.com
[Updated on: Wed, 15 November 2006 18:47]
So say what you want
(You know I'm wasting all my time)
You've gotta mean it when you say what you want
(You're only safe when you're alone)
And everybody's on your mind
Saying anything to get you by
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One more reason that you need to move to United States.
So say what you want
(You know I'm wasting all my time)
You've gotta mean it when you say what you want
(You're only safe when you're alone)
And everybody's on your mind
Saying anything to get you by
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What were the others again? 
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Yes, well, that's how it's supposed to be over here.
It's surprising that it's First Direct that has started charging as it has always advertised itself as offering free banking.
I have another account with NatWest which I don't use very much. It is free.
David
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cossie
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On fire! |
Location: Exiled in North East Engl...
Registered: July 2003
Messages: 1699
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... if you have a First Direct savings account. I'm not an FD customer, but from the information I can find there's some ambiguity about whether you are exempted from the charge if you already have another FD product, or only if you take another product in the future. Even if it's the latter, all you need to do is apply for an FD credit card and cut it up as soon as it arrives!
However, it would pay to shop around. My son opened an undergraduate account with Lloyds; he got a boatload of discount vouchers and various other goodies when the account was opened, as well as an interest-free overdraft facility. After three years, he was invited to convert to a graduate account, which gave him a £1500 interest-free overdraft for a further three years. Both accounts were accessible at branches, by post or by internet, and of course a debit card was supplied.
I think that the major high-street banks all offer student packages; my daughter used HSBC, though in the event the rewards weren't quite as good as those from Lloyds.
For a' that an' a' that,
It's comin' yet for a' that,
That man tae man, the worrld o'er
Shall brithers be, for a' that.
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A 98 year old woman wrote this to her bank. The bank manager thought it amusing enough to have it published in the New York Times.
Dear Sir:
I am writing to thank you for bouncing my check with which I endeavored to pay my plumber last month.
By my calculations, three 'nanoseconds' must have elapsed between his presenting the check and the arrival in my account of the funds needed to honor it. I refer, of course, to the automatic monthly deposit of my entire salary, an arrangement which, I admit, has been in place for only eight years.
You are to be commended for seizing that brief window of opportunity, and also for debiting my account $30 by way of penalty for the inconvenience caused to your bank.
My thankfulness springs from the manner in which this incident has caused me to rethink my errant financial ways. I noticed that whereas I personally attend to your telephone calls and letters, when I try to contact you, I am confronted by the impersonal, overcharging, pre-recorded, faceless entity which your bank has become.
From now on, I, like you, choose only to deal with a flesh-and-blood person. My mortgage and loan payments will therefore and hereafter no longer be automatic, but will arrive at your bank by check, addressed personally and confidentially to an employee at your bank whom you must nominate
Be aware that it is an offence under the Postal Act for any other person to open such an envelope. Please find attached an Application Contact Status which I require your chosen employee to complete. I am sorry it runs to eight pages, but in order that I know as much about him or her as your bank knows about me, there is no alternative.
Please note that all copies of his or her medical history must be countersigned by a Notary Public, and the mandatory details of his/her financial situation (income, debts, assets and liabilities) must be accompanied by documented proof.
In due course, I will issue your employee with a PIN number which he/she must quote in dealings with me. I regret that it cannot be shorter than 28 digits but, again, I have modelled it on the number of button presses required of me to access my account balance on your phone bank service. As they say, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
Let me level the playing field even further. When you call me, press buttons as follows:
1-- To make an appointment to see me.
2-- To query a missing payment.
3-- To transfer the call to my living room in case I am there.
4-- To transfer the call to my bedroom in case I am sleeping.
5-- To transfer the call to my toilet in case I am attending to nature.
6-- To transfer the call to my mobile phone if I am not at home.
7-- To leave a message on my computer (a password to access my computer is
required. A password will be communicated to you at a later date to the Authorized
Contact.)
8-- To return to the main menu and to listen to options 1 through 7.
9-- To make a general complaint or inquiry, the contact will then be put on hold, pending the attention of my automated answering service.
While this may, on occasion, involve a lengthy wait, uplifting music will play for the duration of the call.
Regrettably, but again following your example, I must also levy an establishment fee to cover the setting up of this new arrangement.
May I wish you a happy, if ever so slightly less prosperous, New Year.
Your Humble Client
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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The letter's amusing, but the blurb doesn't seem to match the letter. A marvellously technology-literate and articulate nonagenarian she must be, and what's even more impressive, she's still earning a salary at 98!
David
Edit: changed octogenarian to nonagenarian.
[Updated on: Thu, 16 November 2006 11:54] |
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I have an "aunt-in-law" in Australia who just turned 100 (and received a telegram from HM) and who still has a regular income from books that she wrote. I understand that a new novel, about the Spanish Armada from the Spanish POV, is soon to be published. So, it can happen, David.
The paradox has often been noted that the United States, founded in secularism, is now the most religiose country in Christendom, while England, with an established church headed by its constitutional monarch, is among the least. (Richard Dawkins, 2006)
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Well, that's excellent, JFR, though it's certainly not the norm. I don't deny it's possible, only that it seems very unlikely that a 98 year-old would write such a letter.
(Also noticed: who takes out a mortgage and loans to be paid until one is 98? Are bank managers not subject to copyright laws? Maybe I'm taking the whole thing a bit seriously. )
David
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saben
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On fire! |
Registered: May 2003
Messages: 1537
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We have monthly charges, but usually only $5 and most banks waive them if you take proof of enrollment at Uni. The fees are intended for workers, so students can avoid them.
Look at this tree. I cannot make it blossom when it suits me nor make it bear fruit before its time [...] No matter what you do, that seed will grow to be a peach tree. You may wish for an apple or an orange, but you will get a peach.
Master Oogway
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