# End of free banking?



## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

This is across the pond but relevant as all the big banks are in the same boat.

"End of free banking? Free current accounts 'should go' so High Street banks stop mis-selling, warns top financial watchdog"

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/saving/article-2178206/We-need-accept-free-banking-central-problem-FSA-chairman-Turner-warns.html#ixzz21YtypzKq

Seems the banks need to quit ripping folks off and find a way to cover that loss in income. Huh?

Here is another quote:

"Many who stay in credit get a good deal, subsidised by others who pay though, for instance, unauthorised overdraft charges and PPI insurance premiums', he said. 'It is not a sound basis for a long-term trust-based relationship between a competitive banking system and its customers.' 
Lord Turner said the situation required critics - such as politicians, press and consumer groups - to recognise the flaw in this model and to resist accusing banks of profiteering when they try to introduce more transparent charging on current accounts."
Is that what it sounds like to an ordinary common man like me? Not accuse them of profiteering, or ripping folks off, and come up with a 'more transparent' way of ripping folks off.
So, they want to eliminate 'free' checking to help pay for that loss. Maybe they can no longer afford to pay execs 100 million dollars a year, think that hits the bottom line? Maybe they can no longer afford to buy up all the competition and become 'too big to fail'?

Seems I remember a time when banks offered 'free' checking because they made money off your accounts balance, they could lend it out at interest. Now that interest rates are crap they lost all that income and are looking for a way to get it back. They put in ATM machines to save money, they could fire tellers. Now they want to charge for those services because they are no longer making the profit they used to make.


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

Banks and credit unions have a business model where they lose money on their worst customers. They don't make money offering free checking accounts with $500 minimum balances. They make money lending those people money. Or offering them credit cards. And yes, banks make a lot of money on overdrafts. They aren't ripping off their customers. They charge certain fees on certain things. If you don't like those fees find another bank. It makes sense to go online and look what services banks offer and what their terms and conditions are. We've been using the same credit union for 18 years.

You could look at a lot of businesses and question what their charges are. Why does it cost me more money to have my computer worked on than my car? Best Buy pays their computer service people less than a car repair shop pays its mechanics. Why does it cost me $75 to have my car towed? Things like that a function of whatever standard business practices are and the market you're in.


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## machinist (Jul 4, 2012)

The standard business practice of banks is to create money out of thin air and charge people to borrow it, and if they deposit that borrowed money in a bank, they get charged for that, too. Is that a license to STEAL, or what? 

With ZIRP being the order of the day, it makes the Bank of Sealy look better all the time.


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## Jack Aubrey (May 24, 2009)

I trust bankers about as much as I do politicians. Personally, I try to have as little to do with either of them as possible. JA


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## BlueShoe (Aug 7, 2010)

I closed a 25 yr old account recently. They wanted me to use my SS # for everything. Go make a deposit or withdrawal, they ask for it. I know my account number. The automated phone system? Same thing. I ditched them.
Yeah, they have it. I'm not interested in it being my primary interface with them.

This year, Mitt is dragging down double what the Pres is getting in campaign donations from banks. Yes, I went looking for that info last week and I found it.


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