In banking business sale of a new account is merely a foot in the door. Next come credit cards, lines of credit, insurance and mortgages, just to name a few. A survey from consumer advice company The Motley Fool has recently discovered that three out of every four consumers would like to change their bank, but are unable to, due to their debt. Given the promotions, rates and incentives offered by the banks, the situation is interesting and ironic. It is only this month, for example, that Alliance & Leicester, in a bid to acquire new clients, increased the rate on its new Premier ISA to 8.10% gross pa/AER. Do not be fooled, the deal is great - as far as tax efficient savings go and as long as you know what ISA is. In fact, Alliance & Leicester itself has reported that 20 per cent of British adults consider the ISA system a mystery. The Banks seem to sail on a broad assumption that majority of the population are finance-savvy, and hence, the popular saving strategy would be passed down as a part of family wisdom through the generations. After all, the ISA system has been around for past eight years. The news what the treasury is taking steps to make ISAs more straightforward, and to educate general public about ISA advantages are comforting.
Richard Al-Dabbagh, senior loans manager at Alliance & Leicester expressed concern regarding Brits way of handling finance. The exact term was ?wasteful?, and although this statement was made in reference to the car purchase and financing, it rings true for all aspects of a client's finance. "With pricey finance being sold to you where you can find yourself overpaying by over ?3,000 or more, it is worth spending ten minutes looking around for a good deal?? ? ladies and gentlemen! There you have it right from the horse's mouth.
The recent exposure of the fact that banking service fees amounted to 4 billion for the past year alone puts an interesting twist on the banks reports stating enormous annual profits. It comes hardly as a surprise that many grateful customers, shackled with debt, gaze with a profound longing at smaller lenders and financial institutions.
It is equally sad and amusing what such banks as Alliance and Leicester, and many others, would offer financial products of a great benefit to the select group of customers ? the ones who know precisely how to take advantage of these products. As for the rest of us - we should be happy for the banks.