MONEY COMMENT
Ten Things We Hate About Banks

By Cliff D'Arcy
March 23, 2004

I found myself in an unusual situation last month, when I appeared on BBC Breakfast to defend Royal Bank of Scotland's (LSE: RBS) latest annual profit - a whopping £7 billion. (I definitely perked up the interview by saying 'Good morning, Dermot' to presenter Declan Curry, but that's another story!)

It's ironic that the BBC chose me to defend RBS and its mega-profit, considering I've spent most of my adult life criticising British banks, their service and products. However, as a global giant, RBS makes only a fraction of its profit from UK borrowers, so I valiantly defended its reputation!

Nevertheless, it appears that the majority of Brits agree with my grumbling. According to a survey released yesterday by savings bank ING Direct, 9 out of 10 of us (90%) think that banks and building societies make excessive profits. Even worse, almost 7 in 10 adults (69%) judge that banks are not entirely honest, with almost a quarter of these people (23%) believing that these firms use underhand tactics to make money!

Almost three-quarters of customers (74%) believe that these companies cram their products with sneaky clauses and catches - and nearly 6 in 10 of us (59%) believe that we are not getting the best interest rate on our savings.

This is all pretty damning stuff, isn't it? But wait, there's more: here are our ten pet hates about banks and building societies:

1. Being bombarded with loan offers: 55%
2. Queues at counters or cashpoints: 42% (aha, the great British obsession with queuing makes an appearance!)
3. Poor savings rates: 36%
4. Long cheque-clearing times: 36%
5. Long waits when telephoning call centres: 32%
6. Putting profits way ahead of customers: 30%
7. Confusing and complicated products, with too many catches: 23%
8. Poor service, bad or unhelpful attitudes: 12%
9. Inefficiency and incompetence: 9%
10. Poor communication, aggressive letters and incomprehensible forms: 9%

Having worked in product, account and marketing management roles for several of the UK's biggest financial services companies, I can vouch for point 7. I believe that many of my ex-colleagues deliberately use gobbledygook and small print to confuse the public! Here's one example. To be honest, the only transparency you'll find in banks is through their windows (when they're not obscured by ads for credit cards)!

What's more, through over-enthusiastic lending, British banks have fuelled a massive increase in personal debt, as this article reveals.

So, if you want to get your own back, ditch those terrible products and vote with your feet by switching banks! Check out these articles to learn how:

• Twelve Tips On Complaining
• A Great Tax-free Savings Account
• Seeking Out The Best Savings Rates
• Another Ten Things I Hate About Money
• Britain's Best Bank Accounts
• How To Spot Dubious Advice

More: Visit our Savings, Mortgage, Personal Loan and Credit Card centres.