By Lezanne Janse van Rensburg, 25th January
2010
The controversial issue of unfair bank charges is causing 8 out
of 10 British consumers to lose trust in their banks.
According to money.co.uk an alarming amount of consumers
are losing faith in their banks' ability to treat them fairly with
regards to bank charges. In a recent survey a dismal 7 percent of
clients feel they can trust their banks completely. A further 25
percent have no trust in the consumer banking sector due to unfair
penalty and bank charges.
The option of switching to a different bank, in an attempt to
escape unfair charges, does not hold much promise either. Only 15
percent of those surveyed stated that a move could be more
beneficial.
A dismal 7 percent of clients feel
they can trust their banks completely
The gradual decrease in clients' level of trust in the banking
industry is largely due to the penalty fees charged once a client's
account goes into the red. According to disgruntled customers banks
should be doing more to prevent clients from running up
unauthorised overdrafts.
Clients have also lost faith in their banks due to a number of
dramatic events associated with the recent economic crisis.
According to money.co.uk's managing director, Chris Morling,
some of these events may have caused permanent damage to the
relationships between banks and their clients.
"It seems that the events of the last year or so - from Northern
Rock and the credit crunch, to the Supreme Court bank charges
ruling - have deeply affected our relationship with
banks," Morling said.
However, customers have suggested numerous ways in which banks
can regain their trust. By preventing customers from making any
debit or Internet payments when they have insufficient funds, the
amount of unnecessary penalty charges could be limited. Clients
have also requested banks to inform customers if they have limited
funds.
"For many, the issue is not with (bank) charges per se, but
with the banks' seemingly laissez-faire attitude to
allowing customers to run up overdrafts in the first place …
however, the application of some smart technology and a little
common sense would go a long way to addressing these
issues," Morling stated.
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