Competition commission inquiry to SA bank Charges

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quik

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Hi guys

There was an interresting discussion on the current state of bank charges in SA on Classic FM today, for anyone who is interrested. This might tie in with whoiswarren's earlier thread.

The final statement from Lindsay Williams was something like "Just like the signs that say Hijacking Hot Spot next to offramps there should be signs at banks that say Beware of Mugging" :p

I think there's a podcast on Classic FM for anyone who's interrested and missed it, although i havn't checked.

Personally I'm tired of the rediculous bank charges being levied these days and finally the Competition Commission seem to have woken up. You can leave your comments or suggestions regarding the inquiry on the website from tomorrow.

I think this is our chance to stick it to them, and remind the banks who their customers are !!!... as it would seem banks are following the "Telkom" business model these days :(
 
I am screwing SB last few weeks due to the fact that they don't have conveninent and free way of checking your account balance, and I am very pissed off because of that!
 
FWIW and to make you feel bad, my mum's UK bank account which is in credit gets NO bank charges no matter how many debit orders or cash withdrawls are made.
 
yes, bank charges are ludacrous in SA, they want people to save. When you deposit money say R 100, they charge cash deposit fee (R1) , then monthly fee, when you want to widraw it they charge you again.

so you end up with around R 90 ... this should not be so...

Banks in SA must have a wake up call on charges
 
Fantastic1 said:
yes, bank charges are ludacrous in SA, they want people to save. When you deposit money say R 100, they charge cash deposit fee (R1) , then monthly fee, when you want to widraw it they charge you again.

so you end up with around R 90 ... this should not be so...

Banks in SA must have a wake up call on charges
Click to expand...
you forgot to mention, when you want to check how much money you have. they charge you again ...

lets say you deposit R100, there is R1 deposit fee, then you check lets say twice to see when the cash will appear in your account, that is another R2.00 (R1.00 per mini statement), then you withdraw them some time later, this is another R3 or so, so from R100 deposited, you get back R94.00 at best ...
 
FNB wants to at least appear to play ball with the others sure to follow.

Telkom would cry unconstitutional and go running to the minister.
 
Why don't all the cosumers just choose with their feet and move to other banks, but the whole of SA sits with ABSA and takes the high charges rather than moving to another bank.

I have no loyalty to banks, why doesn't everyone move to Go Banking or Capitec and the banks will get a wake up call. By hanging around and ranting and raving is not gonna help, move to another bank, much simpler.

But then again only a couple of thousand myADSL readers may do that, not the rest of the country.
 
duderoo said:
I have no loyalty to banks, why doesn't everyone move to Go Banking or Capitec and the banks will get a wake up call. By hanging around and ranting and raving is not gonna help, move to another bank, much simpler.
Click to expand...
Dunno who Capitec is but Go Banking is just Nedbank who are pretty much as bad as they come IMO.
 
bwana they may be Nedbank, but the fees are certainly not.
 
That article on Fin24 gives the impression that FNB thinks the rates are justified and this is their opportunity to explain why banks in SA rape the public :eek:

This I got to hear :p
 
They should be making money out of the corporates not the man in the street. Barclays bought ABSA over and yet ABSA charges one of the highest bunch of fees.
 
Yep

competition commision need public input of information

[email protected]

lets send compalints, proofs of over-charging to them.

We have only one shot at bank charges this year, complain NOW or hold your peace for the rest of the year.

I am busy compiling some info.- powerful stuff !



:^_)
 
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noswal said:
FWIW and to make you feel bad, my mum's UK bank account which is in credit gets NO bank charges no matter how many debit orders or cash withdrawls are made.
Click to expand...
Those who are old enough might remember the days when it was basically like this in SA too. (And that was before computerisation allowed the banks to dramatically lower costs and increase economies of scale and efficiencies.)
 
Disclosure

I sent this email:

Hi There,

One of the biggest issues that stifles competition in the South African
banking sector, is disclosure. Banking fees are obfuscated to the point
where it is near impossible for the consumer to differentiate between
their offerings. In fact the banks go to great lengths to ensure that
consumers do not even know when they are being charged.. to give you an
example:

When I go to the store and buy a Coke, I get a receipt. This receipt
tells me how much I payed for the Coke. I am made aware that I just
spent five rand, for example.

When I draw money from the ATM, the receipt I receive does not indicate
how much I am charged for the transaction. I am completely oblivious to
the amount of money I am spending.

Whenever a customer initiates a transaction. A message should popup on
the screen...

This transaction will cost you R10, would you like to proceed?

Once having accepted it, then the amount should be clearly visible on
the receipt. [Arial Font, Bold, Size 14]

To improve competition in the marketplace, the banks must be forced to
disclose their fees at the point when the transaction takes place.
Consumers need to be made aware of how much the bank is charging them
for services.

Please take this into your consideration on behalf of the South African
consumer.
 
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Another issue that affects competition in the banking sector, concerns the portability of account numbers. This is analogous to the portability of cell phone numbers in the cell phone industry. Its simple really...

There is a strong disincentive for consumers to switch banks as their account number will change and they will be forced to communicate this to all their customers/suppliers/etc. When they switch banks, they run the risk of someone not being able to pay them.

To increase competition, account number portability should be imposed on the banking sector. i.e. when consumers switch banks, their account number should not need to change.
 
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