Thanks Vic! Very eloquently put. I understand that it was the HSBC (Midland Bank) that started the Free Banking game in the mid 80's? I got my first bank account in 1976 I think but I don't actually remember paying fees. It seems very unnatural. My business bank account is also with Barclays. It seems upsidedown that the banks (not just Barclays) scalp business customers whilst letting Joe Public away, generally, without charges. For our business account we paid around £400 last year. This was made up of excruciatingly detailed charges for each cheque we issued or deposited and every penny we withdrew or returned. Even though they charge for every little trick they still play that games where it takes 4 business days for an electronic transfer of money to clear and where they credit you with pitifully low rates of interest on current account balances. There is a genuine need in the UK for a small business oriented bank. The lovely adverts on the telly are nothing but smoke and mirrors; there is nothing out there.

Hi y'all, just wanted to post my first post! My wife and I have had a joint account for the past 15 years or so at Barclays. In fact, this account is used exclusively by my wife but as she is a full time mum with no separate income, the bank wouldn't let her open it in her own name! My wife is less financially aware than many... that's PC for she hasn't got a clue how to set and work to a budget. From 2001 to 2004 she was 'awarded' a total of £1,540 in paid refferal fees (?) for over stepping her overdraft. Our charming bank also managed to sign her up for a fancy current account that needed her to pay £5 - £10 per month for things that were of no value to her whatsoever. They also managed to get her tuck money away into an ISA (remember she has no job and pays NO tax) even though the DDR often caused her to be overdrawn. In a master stroke they even managed to sell her a £3,000 loan (remember she has NO income) with payment protection insurance (remember she hasn't even got a job that she can lose)!! Interestingly, I left work to start my own business in 2004 and from then until now she has managed the Barclays account like a good 'un and incurred no charges at all. In June she paid off the last of the loan and I see her checking the balance on line whenever she's about to head off to Sainsburys. Many readers may have partners who are less financially able than they are. My word it creates friction don't you think? (British understatement!). When I think about the number of times we got those official Barclays letters through the door.... Invariably they would culminate in tears. The cost of a full blown parking ticket delivered 3 times per month, month after month! My wife heard from a friend how she'd been able to organise a claim to recover bank charges that Barclays had made on her elderly mother who had gone slightly loopy and hadn't opened her mail for 18 months. Funily, Barclays' early offer was so close to the full amount that it was all settled very quickly. The evening that my wife told me about this and the apparent illegality of these profitable charges, I found the CAG, registered, banged off our first approach letter to Barclays and bought a Small Claims pack together with the touted small claims book. Embarrassed to say that I'm the kind of guy that can produce every statement I've ever had, so making up the schedule was childs play. We got a letter back from Barclays after about a week asking for 4 - 8 weeks to analyse something or other. I can't remember exactly what it was about but there was no early offer made and it didn't deter me from just printing out my Letter Before Action which will be in the post tomorrow morning and away to HQ in London. From other folks' postings I'm not imagining that I'll actually get to court but I am prepared to be there if necessary. These charges caused many a sleepless night and much anguish; I remember joking (ha, ha) about my wife being a good customer for Barclays and lo and behold I was right. These fees are a deliberate campaign to defraud customers. How funny that every single UK bank adopted the same campaign. A cartel of crooked bankers? I'll keep you posted if anything strange happens!