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[kennythecelt]

Which- Barclays cuts overdraft charges: 29/05/08

 

Barclays cuts overdraft charges

[kennythecelt]

Barclays to cut penalty charges: BBC 29/05/08

 

BBC NEWS | Business | Barclays to cut penalty charges

 

 

Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group,

 

"It vindicates our stance that the charges have been wildly excessive," he said. "It shows that for years they have been milking their customers for nearly £30 more than they needed."

[tomterm8]

This suggests to me that certain banks are afraid that a competition investigation might be set off by the OFT's fairness assessment of the charges. after all, that has always been a possibility even if the charges are found lawful, the fact the banks have been pretty much charged identical amounts of money for a "service" with very substantial markups suggests that they may be breaching european competition law.

[photoman]

Barclays to cut penalty charges: BBC 29/05/08

 

BBC NEWS | Business | Barclays to cut penalty charges

 

 

Marc Gander, of the Consumer Action Group,

 

"It vindicates our stance that the charges have been wildly excessive," he said. "It shows that for years they have been milking their customers for nearly £30 more than they needed."

 

I also like the quote by a Barclays spokeswoman:

 

"If customers continue to run their accounts as they are now, we will earn less money than before from overdraft charges," said a Barclays spokeswoman.

[rdm2006]

Wonder how long it will be before others follow suit:D

[fergal71]

lets all move to barclays and see how long it takes... move your slary into barclays and lets see...

[kennythecelt]

How does it actually compare with what they have been charging though and what will it really mean?

 

Remember they are pretty good at dressing things up.

[JonCris]

Can someone clever do a before & after court hearing cost comparision on being overdrawn at Barclays not forgetting to add any new fixed charges

[MilkTrayMan]

I haven't looked in depth at it myself yet

...But noticed this morning that skbuncks has ALREADY given it a rough thumbs down.

 

 

...

[rdm2006]

on the old system you were charged at most 3 per day = £90.00 under the new system max is 5 per day which would be £40.00 is all i know (sounds easier to stay out of the red to me, but i will still wait and see)

[photoman]

Okay,

 

At the moment if an item is presented to Barclays that will take your account over its limit, and they allow the payment.

They charge a "Paid referral fee" of £30

 

Total cost = £30.

 

Under the new structure, you undertake an agreement that should an item be presented that would take you over your limit, then the bank would automatically give you a "buffer" facility of £250 for 5 days at a cost of £22. This facility (and thus charge) would I presume would be triggered by the presentation of said item. You would then also pay an £8 fee for the clearance of the item that triggered the buffer.

 

Total cost = £30

 

 

anyone spot the difference ?

[MilkTrayMan]

...+ AFTER those 5 days have elapsed...what about the Charges then??...

[rdm2006]

...+ AFTER those 5 days have elapsed...what about the Charges then??...

 

Another £22.00 will be charged (But the buffer is optional) you could pay the £8.00 per unauth'd item but they will not be paid

[MilkTrayMan]

So in effect...ALL Barclays are offering is a two-tier micro-short term O/D facility...:o

Methinks that it is 'designed' confusion, similar to the Mobile Phone Tariffs + what, until recently, applied to Train Tickets also.

It deliberately dis-empowers those 'little peeps' who MAY not have the intellectual wherewithal to understand + serves to keep them within a financial 'bonded slavery' socio-economic system...

[citizenB]

So in effect...ALL Barclays are offering is a two-tier micro-short term O/D facility...:o

 

Methinks that it is 'designed' confusion, similar to the Mobile Phone Tariffs + what, until recently, applied to Train Tickets also.

 

It deliberately dis-empowers those 'little peeps' who MAY not have the intellectual wherewithal to understand + serves to keep them within a financial 'bonded slavery' socio-economic system...

 

Sounds like an accurate description of my financial understanding MilkTrayMan :D

[MilkTrayMan]

Sounds like an accurate description of my financial understanding MilkTrayMan :D

U should have read some of my CIMA exemption modules coursework when I was at Uni...

...Typed after I'd been on a night out on the 'pop'...

 

 

...

[citizenB]

Sounds like an accurate description of my financial understanding MilkTrayMan :D

 

U should have read some of my CIMA exemption modules coursework when I was at Uni...

...Typed after I'd been on a night out on the 'pop'...

 

 

...

 

Would I have understood them any better ?

[Bookworm]

This is the FAQs for the new charging system:

Top 10 FAQs - Reserve - Current account - Barclays

 

Now get off the OFT thread and go discuss that elsewhere, you hooligans!

[Bigmac versus]

This suggests to me that certain banks are afraid that a competition investigation might be set off by the OFT's fairness assessment of the charges. after all, that has always been a possibility even if the charges are found lawful, the fact the banks have been pretty much charged identical amounts of money for a "service" with very substantial markups suggests that they may be breaching european competition law.

 

100% agree, Ive always thought that could happen and this could be an attempt to distance thereself from such an investiagtion, too late i feel.

[smutley]

6. How will I know what my Reserve Amount is?You will receive a letter informing you of your Reserve prior to it taking effect. Your Reserve Amount will appear on your monthly statement, and can be found by logging into Online Banking from 18 August 2008. We can also tell you what your Reserve amount is when you call us.

 

erum, bet mine is £22 to cover the Reserve Usage Fee!

[TheyrCriminals]

Hi Guys,

 

As I understand it the 'buffer zone' Barclays is offering for 5 days at a cost of £22 is optional. You do not have to take it. You can instead just keep paying £8 for each bounced item (up to 5 a day), be it an unpaid direct debit/standing order or returned cheque etc. I have to say that is a stark improvement on £35 which is the current charge not £30. So depending on how many bounced items you have in a day, if it is just one bounced item your charge has been slashed from £35 to £8. The figure of £8 is still too high and we have a long way to go, but it does look like at long last one bank is beginning to move in the right direction. Let's not underestimate this hugley significant development.

 

TheyrCriminals

Edited May 29, 2008 by TheyrCriminals

[MilkTrayMan]

The problem is though TheyrCriminals, that that £8 per day Charge is infinitum, whereas the £35 Charge was a one-off Charge.

For those peeps that can least afford to 'catch up' on their debt, this smaller, but more frequent amount, would VERY quickly snowball out of control + cause them to be in an even greater debt than what they would be under the majority of Banks current unlawful Penalty Charging systems...

Let us NOT forget those less fortunate than whatever financial position we may be in ourselves please.

...Cos no matter what, there are plenty of other peeps out there that we should be fighting for, whether they realise it or not.

...

[TheyrCriminals]

MilkTrayMan,

 

You can not accrue an infinite amount of these charges in one day, 5 is the maximum, so what your saying is that if you do have 5 bounced items in one day you will be paying an extra £5 compared to the old system. The £35 was certainly not a one off charge either. Under Barclays old system you could have dozens of £35 unpaid item fees in any one month - I know I had them! Now I will only be charged £8 instead of £35 every time which is a dramatic reduction but I accept still not good enough. Besides how many of us have 5 bounced items per day every other day from our bank accounts?

 

In addition I am certainly not forgetting those who are in a less fortunate financial position than myself.

 

TheyrCriminals

Edited May 30, 2008 by TheyrCriminals

[JonCris]

Unlike before there appears to be no restriction on how many times the SAME DD can be presented in 1 day meaning of course the consumer could be much worse off compared to before. Also we still have the arbitrarily enhanced interest charges

 

It's another case of smoke & mirrors methinks being used to confuse us peasants ......... & possibly even the OFT

[TheyrCriminals]

Companies who are repeatedly entering peoples bank accounts on the same day to apply a direct debit is a complaint to the company not the bank, surely? I have to ask however how big a problem is this?

 

TheyrCriminals