Bank charges case rumbles on

[Scottish Business Owner]

Thursday saw the banks lose another appeal regarding unfair bank charges. Given the current state our banks are in i'm sure this is a problem they could well do without. The Scotsman today reported that if the banks ultimately lose this case it could cost them up to £2billion pounds per year!

Does anyone actually think that the government could intervene here and stop people being able to sue on the basis that the banks cant actually afford to lose this case?

Get set for fee banking rather than free - Scotsman.com Business

They also claim it will be the end of free banking which i'm sure will also hurt small businesses worst.

This just looks like one big sorry mess and I fear one or more banks could actually disappear as a result. :001_unsure:

 

[Power Lunch Club]

Thursday saw the banks lose another appeal regarding unfair bank charges. Given the current state our banks are in i'm sure this is a problem they could well do without. The Scotsman today reported that if the banks ultimately lose this case it could cost them up to £2billion pounds per year!

Does anyone actually think that the government could intervene here and stop people being able to sue on the basis that the banks cant actually afford to lose this case?

Get set for fee banking rather than free - Scotsman.com Business

They also claim it will be the end of free banking which i'm sure will also hurt small businesses worst.

This just looks like one big sorry mess and I fear one or more banks could actually disappear as a result. :001_unsure:

And of course Mr B has promised us banking clean up as well.

BBC NEWS | Politics | Brown promises banking clean-up

 

[Gordon N]

It's a tricky one this one, but I can't help but feel that this is actually all for the good. I accept that the current situation is causing a huge problem for many people (including me!) but it highlighting the faults that have been inherant in our banking system for years!

The banks have been overcharging for years and by the looks of things this has been used to provide staff bonuses and huge pensions. If by the banks being sued and coughing some of this money back it should break one or two of them, in my opinion thats the price they pay.

With an eye on the future, it is my hope and belief that the result of all this bad press etc will bring the dawn of a new banking age - run by qualified professionals and as a proper business and not just a cash cow!

But what do I know?! :thumbup:

 

[Unfair Bank Charges]

Halifax are already being accused of smuding house values (downward) so people don't have enough equity for the best remortgage rates. So the new age of banking seems like total spin. Who is going to replace the bankers? Nobody, because it they do they will be expected to tranform the industry and be more accountable, and the current bankers do not want their practices to be exposed so they ain't going nowhere. Brown knows this full well, it;s not in his interests to have a complete overhaul of the industry.

 

[Mike Lewis]

Did I read that right? £2 billion pounds? Per year? I find that hard to believe.

If that's right, that would mean that the banks have overcharged by that amount - and that's just on charges for unauthorised overdrafts, and just from the folk who are likely to try to claim it back.

This is more likely another case of The Scotsman overcharging our credulity. (The article seems to be confusing the cap on credit card charges with the legal action in respect of overdraft charges, and the issue of whether an action re the overdraft charges will ever come to court.) There's no evidence that it will lead to the end of free banking - except in the minds of The Scotsman's writers.

Mike