British Banks to move out of Stone Age
British banking has been an absolute disgrace for the last 15-20 years. Electronic funds transfers between banks have always taken a minimum of three days, and in our experience sometimes even longer. Now, after increasing pressure from consumer organisations and even the Bank of England, the banks have agreed to speed transactions up to take less than 24 hours. This will bring them into the same ball park as the German banks have operated in for as long as I can remember.
However, don’t get too excited yet – the Brits need until the end of 2007 to pension off the monkeys now used to process the transfers and replace them with modern computer systems. The task force which has come up with this proposal is now looking into why cheques (which on the continent are now almost extinct) take so long to clear in the UK.
May 25th, 2005 at 10:05:22
Where British banks beat the German ones is that accounts are normally “free” whereas in Germany the opposite is true. Not only do German banks earn interest with our money but they charge us for the privilige of doing so.
May 26th, 2005 at 07:05:17
Yes, the fee structure is different, but we have a UK account at Lloyds, and if we go overdrawn, it costs £25 per day (it goes up to £30 from July!) – just for being overdrawn! It’s roundabouts and swings.
However, you are right – German banks are more expensive overall.
May 26th, 2005 at 15:05:41
So the trick is not to go overdrawn….
sez he stating the obvious.