Welcome Bank Charges

Those of you who have ever read my blog know that I do no have much love for the myriad of bank charges that we have to pay. So imagine my surprise when I heard of a bank charge that I actually could support.  Some banks have announced that they will be charging a fee for persons depositing large sums of cash.  Normally I would oppose this move because banks should not charge you to take your money.  But if like me you have had to stand in a bank line for more than an hour because a few inconsiderate people bring in huge paper bags full of money to deposit and hold up everyone in the line then perhaps you too will applaud.  These transactions often take more than half an hour to complete and when there are so few tellers it holds up everyone.

My belief is that if you have such significant amounts of money to lodge then you should use the deposit bag facilities that the bank offers.  Even if there is a cost to it, it is clear that this should not deter them from doing so.  The cost of half an hour of an employee’s time is more than the cost of paying for the bank service.  This brings me back to business practices; the problem is not with the bank charges but in how they are allocated to customers.  Those who cannot afford to pay, proportionally bear the highest cost of doing business with the bank.  What needs to happen is a redistribution of the charges to more accurately reflect the users of the bank services.

The banks should consider charging persons who do more than three transactions.  Every time that I go to the bank I get stuck behind several bearers doing multiple transactions for their companies.  They contribute to the long time that it takes to get served and demonstrate no consideration for other users of the bank.  Many companies can afford to pay for some of the services that they require.  How about a charge for persons who turn up at the teller wanting to get money for a payroll?  The requirement is that you call ahead for a payroll and it is reasonable that a cost be attached for this service.  Those transactions that have to be done that require the teller to leave their station in order to investigate or circumvent the normal processes of the bank could bear a charge.

Then in order to balance out the equation reduce the service charge on smaller accounts and increase the number of transactions that one can do at the ATM without attracting a charge.  Perhaps this could go a long way to restoring the joy to doing banking as once again one can quickly and efficiently conduct business with the banks.