Scrooge Of The Year

[EXC]

The Times Scrooge Of The Year Awards.

Nominations include the FSA for their epic ''Waiver'' and the British Bankers Association for, presumably, ''best actress''.


http://business.timesonline.co.uk/to...cle3052802.ece

[Amethyst]

Re: Scrooge Of The Year

But even the supposed consumer champions did not escape your ire. A few stuck the boot into the Financial Services Authority (FSA), the chief City watchdog, for prolonging the waiver on unauthorised overdraft charge repayments that it granted when the Office of Fair Trading and eight leading banks announced that they were going to court to try to resolve the question of whether overdrafts charges were legal.
Financial experts say that the waiver has given banks too much breathing space. One reader accused the FSA of implementing too much red tape, writing: “The FSA should be considered for trying to generate the red herring of its ‘new’ policy of treating customers fairly, when any self-respecting business would already be doing just that.”
Industry bodies also gained notoriety this year. The British Bankers Association, which represents UK banks, joined the FSA and the Revenue on the hitlist for its handling of the bank charges debacle. Even Which?, the consumer group, received one vote, for offering a free trial of its subscription-only website but failing to remind readers when the trial comes to an end and they have to start paying.
The bank with the highest Scrooge factor, according to Times readers, was Alliance & Leicester, for high charges and failing to keep balances up to date, putting account holders at greater risk of breaching their overdraft limits. Wally Rhodes wrote: “Its bank charges policy was devised by Dick Turpin.”
An Alliance & Leicester spokesman said: “Improvements have been made as a result of introducing a single available balance, which ensures that the same balance is displayed on internet banking, ATM mini-statements and telephone banking. Through the faster payments initiative being introduced next year, customers’ balances will be updated much more quickly.”
HSBC was also in the running with its scrapping of interest-free overdrafts for students, followed by a swift U-turn after a campaign on Facebook, the social networking website. First Direct, a bank that prides itself on customer service, was criticised by one reader for removing in-credit interest with the claim that customers do not care about the feature. “They do,” insisted Keith Crocker on Money Central.
Readers also named and shamed companies for offering better deals to new rather than loyal customers. These included Abbey, for its 8 per cent current account offer, and Virgin Media, for its broadband packages.