Thursday, 13 November 2008

Do banks want our money?

One of my clients tends to have several hundred thousand pounds on deposit at any one time. I suggested that it might be a good idea to spread the cash around three banks instead of one. The Board agreed and back on Tuesday 4th I wrote to HSBC, Barclays, Nationwide and the Clydesdale to see what terms they could offer. So far only one bank has responded. The Clydesdale replied by phone the next day and sent a follow-up letter. There's been nothing from the other three. Do they need our money or are they totally incompetent?
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1 comment:

David Farrer said...

Comments made on previous template:

Former Tory
I think you've misunderstood (no offence) the effect of regulation on the ability of banks to respond. 
 
The main reason that the local bank manager is a spotty, know-nothing, 25 year old is because of regulation by the FSA and others. There are so many rules and so many draconian penalties that banks have had no option other than to withdraw all initiative-based thinking to the centre, where successive layers of compliance staff can vet every utterance. 
 
The average member of staff in the average branch has no idea at all how to respond to an email and would probably breach just about every compliance rule there is if they tried to. Ergo, they ignore it because that way, they're less likely to get fired. 
 
"Customer service" is a fine notion, but an old-fashioned one. The bloody Socialists have reduced everything to the level of the lowest common denominator. 
 
And that is LOW.

21 November 2008, 00:01:56 GMT
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jameshigham
Think they have a few problems at the moment, David.

14 November 2008, 16:02:35 GMT
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H
Solid personal experience (I used to work for one of those banks) is that banks are no longer capable of corresponding with anyone other than their largest existing corporate clients. Your chaps would be best off getting on the phone, I fear.

14 November 2008, 13:35:52 GMT
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Bryan
........both!?

14 November 2008, 08:33:37 GMT

10:06 am, October 01, 2012

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