19 February 2007
Following the decision of First Direct to charge its customers for using their current accounts, iva.co.uk believes it's only a matter of time before all banks begin charging consumers for using their bank's facilities.
Alison Melville, a spokesperson for the UK's biggest online individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) community for information and advice about IVAs, said: "I think the fact that no bank came out and said that they wouldn't be following suit with First Direct is very telling - they told a lot by their silence."
She accused First Direct of "cutting off their dead wood" - the customers who could not afford to pay - and said that it was "crazy" for banks to consider charging their customers money that they simply don't have.
Ms Melville warned that if the majority of banks did start to charge for their current accounts there would be "a real problem" because the people it would penalise would be the poor.
"For example, a current account may have a fee unless you maintain a particular balance. So if you have that particular balance then you won't incur a fee, but if you don't then you will be charged," she added.
On a more positive note, Ms Melville stated that she believed consumers were wising up to the fact that banks were not always playing fairly and that more disgruntled customers were prepared to challenge the charges.
"Whereas a few years ago they would be incredibly shocked to see it on their statement but they would feel helpless, they now see themselves in a position to object to that kind of treatment," she said.
"They are aware that banks don't always play fair and I think that it is a new realisation and that the country is waking up to it."