goring - if the balance in yr account is £1. and u have no overdraft arranged, when u go to the cash machine to draw out 40 quid it wont let u.

if the balance in yr account is £1, and u have no overdraft arranged, when u go to pay inline for 4 items, totalling 39 pound, why do they get approved, leaving u with an extra 185 quid in charges (4 x 39, 1 x 29)?

the whole point of this is that the consumer admits that some charge is to be paid, if the consumer uses the banks money. none of u are that stupid or naive. its the level of charges. 39 to complete a transaction is just wrong. its not reasonable, as ive just tried to put in persepective by using the national average wage, in my earlier post.

and as for the banks, if they had to pay out for these charges, they would then have to charge the more prudent and careful customer. the total of these charges come to approx 2.3 bn over 5 yrs. how much money did the high st banks make in the last 2 yrs? well barclays, on its own, made 6bn last yr.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/idUKTRE5181X420090209

so that doesnt really hold up, does it?

So play them at their own game.

Don't go overdrawn without authorisation.

It's not rocket science.

egg - agreed. dont go overdrawn. do u honestly think that a customer wants to go overdrawn and pay these charges? why do filth like halifax allow those online payments to go through, when u dont have the funds in the account? if u cant draw the cash out of a cashmachine, why should u be able to make online payments without funds?

the bloke who went in to find his account charges to the hilt, because his cq took longer to clear, because of the christmas holiday system. he obviously didnt realise the situation and im sure he wont do it again. but it cost him similar to me, because the banks clearing cycle took an extra couple of days, because of christmas. if he earns that average wage, when he went back to work, on the monday after new year, he would be working thorugh till thursday morning, just to pay his bank charges. think that reasonable and fair?

its very easy to say dont do it. fair enough.

but do u think it reasonable that 2 pay 4 online payments, totalling around 35 pound, which the bank have authorised and agreed to pay, should cost a customer 185 quid?

Many of you seem to be missing the point. You selfish Barstewards.

First - YOU don't have to pay for the recklessness of others. It isn't a case of "Well you shouldn't go overdrawn then, you know the penalty, nurr nur ne nur nur etc"

Second - The fines, and that is what they are, FINES, are illegal, because only a court has the power to impose fines.

Third - The charges or fines are often WAY out of proportion, and excessive - hence the court cases.

I had a direct debit, for £10 - erroneously thinking I had it in the bank (AN ERROR) I actually had £7 in there. They bounced it - then charged me £35 for doing so - which made me "overdrawn", thus incurring "daily", and "unauthorised overdraft fees". I was NEVER overdraw, and didn't have a penny from the bank, and they'd not paid the thing anyway. YET, within 3 weeks I "owed" them over £120.

This ruling is completely ridiculous.

Because 3 parties (the bank, the payee and you) have agreed to pay an amount at a specific time.

It's your funeral if you've already spent beyond your means when the payment date comes.

amazing that people can side with banks, they should be opposed at every opportunity because of their recklessness, greed and irressponsibility.

What about when they charge for NOT letting you go overdrawn, and then charge for the charges?

the jewish lord finds in favour of the money lenders ... im stunned

Towers.
WTF has this to do with 'Jewish'?

Banks shouldnt lend money to people who cant manage their accounts properly. They should refuse to honour any cheque that exceeds a limit and if repeated shut the account. Then people would have a choice to act responsibly or do without a bank account.
Whats unfair is just continually charging people who arent capable of running thier finances. Punishing people for being stupid isnt something we should do.

how ironic that, just a couple of days after the bank of england revealed how they secretly bailed out rbs and hbos to the tune of 62 bn, the banks are told to continue to rip the 5hit out of the consumer.

so lets get this right.

if the consumer makes an error, its gonna cost u 39 quid a time.
if the banks make an error, they will get bailed out by the b of e!

and can anybody please clarify why the banks would have had to dispense with free banking, if they had lost this 2.3 bn court case, if barclays, on its own, are making over 6bn pa?

Sounds fair.

study, if you let it get that far, then maybe you are a bit dumb. But, you put a cheque in to the bank to cover a direct debit for your credit card bill, say £60, two days later. The cheque doesn't clear in time. Why? Because the banks have a lovely trading fund to play with in the city based on the three day clearance monies.

And you get charged £35. And then the direct debit is represented, but there isn't enough money now, because you are £35 lighter. By the way, you still don't know yet.

So your account is £70 down, and the gas isn't paid. And the credit card isn't paid. They have a £25 bill up their sleeve as well.

And both the accounts are now charging a punitive 29.9% apr, because you are in arrears.

Alright, its avoidable if you are perfect. Bear in mind the three days for a cheque to clear thing is purely for the banks benefit, it can be quickened up very very easily.

Well, you might say, you read the contract, tough sh*t. Except of course, all the banks have remarkably similar terms and have you tried living without a bank account? then you really get your *rse slapped (inevitably, hurting those who can least afford it hardest).

And still the Curlywurlys shrink.

i guess some people just dont understand how depressing these charges can be, how they make you feel, knowing you're out of your depth with no one to turn to for help.. knowing that on your next payday you're not going to be able to cover your charges and your bills, then knowing that the following month you will be in the same situation.. working a couple of days for nothing just to pay charges..
its not just about people being silly with their money, sometimes you just cant help it, and once you've started, it just spirals out of control, waking up knowing theres no point, you're just basically working for nothing..

I have debt equal to my annual salary, that isn't responsible lending, sure it's my fault for spending it, but they were willing to lend it irresponsibly, i actually phoned up to complain about a couple of charges the otherday, and what did they do? asked if i wanted another credit card

Then say "No, thank you."

It ain't rocket surgery.

I thought banks were a business and wanted to make a profit?

If they are offering you a new one Andy, there may well be a problem with the first. The comapnies offering to render credit cards unenforceable, some of them (there are sharks) are right.

*profit

i dont actually have a credit card with them, i have 2 with other companies(barclaycard and capital one) I have actually just cancelled them to start to try to clear my debts and to prevent the interest rate increase they wanted