Banks bow to their greed
- 24TH JUNE 2007
High street banks have been severely criticized on a number of count in recent years, and 2007 appears to be shaping up to be no different. The Financial Services Authority investigations into payment protection insurance are still ongoing and it seems that there in no end in sight at the moment. However, criticism over charges has also led to public confidence in the financial institutions of this country being undermined.
The investigations into payment protection insurance and the level of unfair bank charges have actually resulted in society turning against financial institutions and branding them as greedy. Society is, in effect, completely right. Payment protection insurance and charges actually made up a substantial percentage of any given bank’s profits and thus they are now being forced to look elsewhere for revenue.
The record profits that banks experienced in 2005 and then again in 2006 were largely composed of payment protection insurance premiums that no consumer could claim back, returned direct debit fees, unauthorised overdraft charges and other similar extortionate fees. However, there is one area that banks had previously used to attract customers and will now use against them – loan rates.
Society is substantially in debt, more so that ever before. Unfortunately, this heightens the need for one of the original problems – payment protection insurance. Individuals cannot afford to live without a loan every now and again today, but the rising loan rates would mean that they may be unable to keep up with repayments should they find themselves unable to work.
The ethical British Insurance is just one of the companies that can help. With low premiums and excellent customer service, British Insurance can give any individual the one thing that banks cannot – peace of mind.
