Braking the banks
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Yet again, we have a badly thought through political gesture foisted upon an unhappy population when all we ever wanted was to make moving home a little easier.
The whole mortgage market is full of anomalies that few people understand. For example, who really understands what the profit margin is for lenders these days? With Libor rates way off retail levels, I am confident 99 per cent of people have no idea what the margin is for banks and building societies at the moment. Why aren't we given this information up front in the same way when you buy a pension or investment? And why don't I know the margin of the salesman when I buy a car or any other asset? It seems retail financial services is held under a far brighter spotlight than any other sector.
TCF is another area where we are being unilaterally hounded. Have you tried booking a holiday during school holidays lately? Try getting a flight to a city hosting a big football match and see what happens. We can spend more money on things like cars and mortgages and never know who earns what or have no way of knowing if we are being ripped off. But try saving £50 a month and all hell breaks loose. Why does TCF apply in some areas and not others?
Talking of TCF, I recently had the dubious pleasure of dealing with my bank. The experience has left me in no doubt that we have a major problem with retail banking. All I needed to do was deposit a cheque but was told they needed to "fill in a form" as it was such a large amount. It transpires that no such form was required. What they wanted to do was march me into a pokey booth and interrogate me under the pretence of money laundering, which swiftly mutated into what my plans were for the money.
They wanted to see if I was gullible enough to be the sort of mug to take their advice. Evidently enough for the lady on the till, whatever incentive she was up against, it was sufficient for her to tell a lie and for the swiftly mustered salesman to twist his words. Mind you, they were very charming, just like you see them on the TV.
Yet again, here is a big heads-up for the FSA, just in case you are in any doubt. Banks are just enormous selling machines and need putting in their place . Gone are the days when a bank was a trusted financial oasis - from the cashier to the smug TV adverts, they are after just one thing, and TCF is not it.
Tom Kean is director at Thameside
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