wsdante

Evil Empires of the World 

Lloyds TSB

From MSN news today:

"Banks aren't taking the OFT's test case on unfair bank charges lying down. They're reorganising their charges in ways they reckon aren't subject to legal challenges.We reported last week on Lloyds TSB's reduction in its interest rate on unauthorised overdrafts - to a mere 19.3%. One of our readers, Tony S, e-mailed us to say he'd worked out that the new flat rate charges on unauthorised overdrafts meant that if he ran a £25 overdraft for a month he'd pay charges equal to an interest rate of 7,900%."

What banks provide for us is a relatively safe place to store your money and many clever and convenient ways to part with it. There may be a tiny percentage of the population who are still paid in cash, but the majority of transactions and wage payments now HAVE to go through a bank account. A credit card is currently the primary form ID that is asked for on the internet. 
Living a 'normal' life in society is next to impossible now without a bank account in your name. Without submitting to at least one bank's rules and regs, however unethical, self-serving and profiteering they are,  you will remain partially non-existant in society.

What we provide for banks is a vast stockpile of free dosh from which they make many more vast stockpiles - from which they make more vast stockpiles. And with money comes power. And with power comes, inevitably, corruption.

Unfair bank charges is a case in point. It is an indication to me of the astounding arrogance of these institutions that they felt they could flout legislation and charge ridiculously inflated sums to customers who had miscalculated their outgoings or had the misfortune to go through an unforseen bad patch.
Then, of course, the customer is immediately more in debt than they expected and probably more in debt than they can get out of until next payday - which is not for another month - by which time the debt has become larger than the expected pay packet can cover which leads to more extortionate charges... and so on.
So, you talk to the bank - and here I cite an actual true case - my own. The bank tells you that they are very sorry that this has happened but, in order for them to take any steps to help you will have to get your account into credit. How does one get into the black without them cutting you some slack? Dunno, I didn't get a coherent answer to that one. Thanks, Lloyds TSB!
The first thing I did when I was finally rescued from the pit was close my accounts with them. Whenever the subject arises, I go out of my way to advise anyone present to do the same. It's a small gesture, I know, but if I have persuades just one or two people to do so, I will go to my grave that much happier. 

So, Before they know it, the customer has a bad credit rating and they are officially declared a person of no real value to society anymore.  
Then, the credit collection agencies glide in on their blood-soaked wings to pick at the emaciated carcass that was once a life.

At one time, the bank manager took the time to know his customers personally and knew their circumstances. You would go to him if you thought a problem was looming and you would sit down for a coffee and a chat. He would then decide from what he knew of you as a working man, family man, husband etc how best to help you.
Now, it seems, a faceless drone taps your details through a piece of software and it is this software - some simple algorithm, no doubt - that decides if you are a worthwhile and/or profitable enough person for the bank to take money from anymore. If not, you are cast off into the sea of hopelessness with the albatross of bad credit around your neck until you can either find your way across the uncharted depths through constant storms, scavenging credit collection gulls and head winds back to dry land or you give up and throw yourself overboard. 

So, next time you see an bank advert trying to convince you that they have the interests of yourself and your loved ones at heart - ask yourself what they mean by the word 'interest'.