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Banks
The world
economic crisis is causing shaky times for banks and institutions that make
money out of other peoples’ money. Bank fees, especially over drawn
account fees, are still the most complained about by low-income
earners.
The
Banks and Poor People
Poor people and banks do not have a history of good relationships
with each other. The reason for this is simple. Banks make money
out of other peoples’ money. Poor people do not have a lot of
money.
Banks used
to be the cornerstones of good commercial practice. A bank manager
was a most respected community member. A career in the banking
industry was a secure one with good prospects. Bank managers used
to visit schools and give money boxes to kiddies to teach the the
value of saving. A child could have a small bank account and still
earn interest. That certainly does not happen these
days.
We now pay
fees that we once did not. Part-time staff are often not trained in
many of the bank’s products and the result is often poor customer
information.
 Unfair
Charges
Recently several of the banks have said they are going to reduce or
abolish some fees we will be looking into this further. The
Consumer Law Action Centre has been fighting unfair fees for
several years. For further information go to www.consumeraction.org.au
However,
we should not be deterred from challenging bank fees that we think
are unfair. The most common charge is for overdrawn accounts. Often
these charges are initiated by the banks. An example is as follows.
A person has two dollars left in their account. The end of the
month comes along and the bank debits excess transaction fees of
five dollars putting the account in debit of three dollars. The
bank then imposes a $30 charge because the account is now
overdrawn. These fees can be challenged successfully.
Challenging
Charges
One local resident was successful in challenging bank charges. The
situation arose when the person, an Office of Housing tenant, had
fortnightly installments for water and electricity charges debited
from her bank account. The account constantly went into debit and,
over a period of months, several hundred dollars worth of fees were
incurred. The resident successfully challenged the bank and was
refunded most of the charges. If you want to challenge bank fees
follow these steps.
First, visit your bank and explain the situation, preferably
to the manager. After the meeting note down what the bank’s
explanation was.
Second, write to the
Banking Ombudsman and, and explain what has happened. Make sure you
tell them that you have spoken to the bank and you are not
satisfied with their explanation. Make sure you send a copy of the
bank statements and include a contact telephone number.
Third, someone from the office of the Banking Ombudsman will
contact you tell you if they think you have a case or not. That
person will be your case contact.
Fourth, the bank will probably contact you again to arrange
a meeting. If you are not confident about dealing with the meeting
get someone to go with you.
Fifth, hold out. If the
bank makes an offer that is less than your claim do not accept it.
The bank, by making an offer, is admitting it is at fault but is
trying to get away with paying out less. Tell them you want to
think about their offer.
Sixth, ring your Banking
Ombudsman case contact and explain what has occurred at the meeting
with the bank. They will advise you on what to do next. The Office
of Housing resident, we told of earlier in the chapter, had several
meetings before the bank returned $560 to that person’s bank
account.
Which
Bank?
Much has been said about the poor quality of service and high fee
charging by the banks. Many of us like to withdraw only small
amounts at a time because we only have small incomes. Transaction
charges make this practice costly. Some banks are now offering
accounts with unlimited transaction for a flat fee. All we can say
is shop around to see what is available. We will be providing an up
date on the Fair Go On Fees campaign being waged by the Consumer
Law Action Centre. | 