Bank accounts 'not working well'

[Amethyst]

Bank accounts 'not working well'


The OFT believes customers are reluctant to switch bank accounts.

Personal current accounts are not working well for consumers, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has said.
In a report, the regulator said much of the banks' revenues in this £8bn industry were "derived opaquely".
The OFT said 81% of income came from charges levied on customers with insufficient funds in their accounts and from interest payments.
In addition, many customers did not know how much they pay in bank charges, the report said.
The report also found that more than three-quarters of customers did not know the interest rate of their current account.
The OFT said that the complexity and lack of transparency of current accounts made it hard for customers to compare accounts from different banks.
As a result, just 6% of customers surveyed by the OFT had switched accounts in the past 12 months.
John Fingleton, chief executive at the OFT, said: "Personal current accounts are a vital gateway to effective participation in the economy. But this market is not serving consumers well."

[chris2289]

Re: Bank accounts 'not working well'

Too right the level of inconsistency of information you get from employees of the banks when it comes to current accounts is shocking. For example, I was told over that I have to switch my bank account from a student acc to a graduate acc with HSBC myself. Then I was informed by letter this has already been done, the upshot being that I have been levied with a £50 interest charge on my over draft when I haven't even graduated yet.

Rant over.