I regularly take part in a number of online consumer surveys (the pay isn’t much – generally 50p or £1 a time, but every little helps).
Usually, they want to know how I feel about the various brands of tomato ketchup or mobile phones, or which supermarkets I shop in. The one I’m doing now is a little different, and I think rather alarming.
It’s about banking and current accounts. And nearly all the questions so far are asking my reactions to the introduction of various fees and payments for running a current account. For instance, a transaction fee of 25p, a “monthly account management fee” of £25, a £5 charge for non-branch ATM withdrawals and so on; plus lots of stuff about various fee packages – an unauthorised payment fee of £15 per item along with no cheque fees, for ex. I’ve not finished it, but so far there’s been nothing about how I feel about paying anything at all for running an in-credit current account.
I think i’m being asked to approve the end of free banking.