Monkey Boy

Another Bank Robbery

I had an  issue with Standard Bank recently regarding household insurance on a home loan. In short I wanted it cancelled. It was eventually cancelled but they erroneously charged me 2 additional month premiums. When they returned the premiums I was informed "it is not company policy" to return the interest charged.

While the monetary value is not great is this not institutionalised theft? Interest charged is calculated on a daily basis on any funds withdrawn but cannot be returned? Or do they see this as a service charge for the inconvenience of rectifying their own mistakes.

Stay tuned.....

(Last Bank Robbery)

Bank Robbery

My friend Henry over at The Fool's Progress has just been robbed - by his bank. Sure they didn't use guns and force but they took money from him that he worked for and they didn't. My computer consulting company makes money out of selling time so I totally understand fair pay for fair effort and a R5000 "interest cancellation fee" for paying off your mortgage early does not meet my "fair pay for fair effort" criteria.

I don't know if being ripped off by banks is a global phenomenon or a uniquely South African one.....but it SUCKS. I am with Standard Bank and they rob me a little bit at a time. I’ll give you an example:

The other day I used my savings account to purchase a gift. I think that's what a savings account is for. Every month you put money in and one month you take it out to buy something (if this concept is foreign to anyone think of it as the opposite of a credit card...BTW my wife totally doesn't get savings accounts but she totally understands credit cards...go figure).

Anyway, when I took the money out I let the balance fall below R1,000 and the next couple of months didn't afford me an opportunity to add any additional funds. (I usually top it up at bonus and tax return times). Now the bank does warn you...but it's hidden somewhere in their complicated 14 page fee summary, that should you let the balance of a savings account fall below R1,000 they will charge R11 per month. Unfortunately they don’t warn you when you actually make the withdrawal. (I thought I was exaggerating about the 14 pages so I checked it out. Try it, I bet you struggle to find the charge on a PlusPlan account with balance less than R1,000. The fee structure is monstrous.)

My balance dropped to R272. I noticed the problem after 4 months and deposited more money to push the balance over the R1,000 threshold...but because the deposit was done on the 2nd I was still charged R11 for that month. In total I lost R55 of R272 or 20% of my capital. Interestingly when I withdrew the money they used the balance on the last day of the month to trigger the fee but when I deposited the money they used the balance on the first of the month to trigger the fee. This is patently UNFAIR.

If you query at the bank the answer is "it's Policy" or "it’s in the contract". While legally these arguments may stand they do not make it RIGHT.  It’s not as if Standard Bank don’t make money from me already. I have a cheque account, a credit card, 2 mortgages and a share trading account with them. All my businesses’ bank accounts are with them as well as my wife’s personal accounts and car finance. We have insurance through Liberty Life, their sister company, and unit trusts with StanLib, a joint Standard Bank Liberty Life investment house. As a family we are good loyal Standard Bank customers and....so I know we are pretty close Bankie-Boo but that still doesn’t give you the right to SCREW me.