Thieving, Robbing Bankers UPDATE

Update to last Thursday’s post about being charged a fee by a dodgy ATM. I emailed my bank to complain and eventually today I received the following uninformative reply: -

"Thank you for your email.

Please be advised this is an independent link machine and we have no relationship with the ATM provider. I am unable to advise you how to raise a complaint other than to contact the ATM provider direct.

Regards

Irene
****** Bank

I have replied (as you do)

“This is a totally inadequate response. I believe that I have been deceived of money by a company who you or your agents authorised my account to be debited.

It is entirely unclear who or how I am supposed to contact this "ATM provider".

I wish to make an official complaint about this response. Please note that I do not blame any individual worker, rather senior management have failed to train or provide sufficient support to staff on how to properly answer enquires.

Please also email me a copy of your complaints procedures”.

I have also looked at my ATM receipt (which luckily I have not lost or eaten). It is headed “Cashpoint ATM” which I assume (but it’s not clear) refers to Cashpoint PLC. So I have emailed them as well to make a complaint. Let’s see what happens.

Robbing, Thieving Bankers? - Poor Pay More

Think cockney rhyming slang? This starts a bit “off message” but bear with me. Over the weekend I got my bank statement and noticed that I had been charged £1.99 to withdraw money from a cash point machine (ATM) last week (outside University of London Union, Mallet Street) after a Labour Link meeting. Being the son of a Scot (Aberdeen no less) I always avoid ATMs that charge. After seeing the statement I went back to check the cash point. See photos- it is a traditional looking “hole in the wall” ATM which had no warning signs on the machine that it charged for withdrawals. However, if you look closely at the screen you will see in small blue letters against a blue background “This machine will charge £1.99 for link cash withdraw”. If you double click the photo it is clearer. I’ve made a complaint to my bank and will follow this up to get my money back and make sure that there is adequate signage.

The consumer magazine “Which?” has campaigned for fee paying ATMs to be marked very clearly. They suggest that free ones should be painted green and charging ones painted red.

There is a wider issue than just me whinging about losing a couple of quid due to some sharp practice. Ironically the cost of financial services is relatively far more for the poor than for the wealthy.

Banks, building societies and post offices are closing down in less prosperous areas. If you can’t afford to run a car you may have no realistic choice about going to your corner shop to pay to use their ATM.

Not only that, but people who can only afford to buy their electricity or gas by a key meter pay more a unit than if you pay by direct debit.

Compare the horrendous cost of loans from “door to door” home credit companies such as Provident Financial who charge interest rates between “170% to 500%” with that of regular Banks. A loan of £200 paid over 23 weeks would result in £294.40 being paid (497%). I can borrow money from my mortgage provider at 6.9%.

The best rates for savings accounts can often only be found by those with access to the Internet.
This can only be regressive and result in further inequality. In such circumstances it is the role of government to step in and force companies to spread the cost over all customers and provide the same low cost access to loans and savings to the poor as that available to the rich.

The question is how? Any ideas?