First NAB off the rank in scrapping bank fees
July 30th 2009 01:40
I watched the television news last night and learned that National Australia Bank is to scrap overdue account fees. The decision will cost the bank an estimated A$100 million a year in revenue, but it had decided getting rid of the charge was "a good business decision that will retain customers and attract new ones".
You bet it's a good business decision. Better to do it now, while you can make some promotional mileage out of it, than in a few months after proposed government legislation becomes law and forces you to do it.
As I watched the news report last night, I thought, "It's a start, but it's not enough." These bank fees are a scam. They are amongst the most detested consumer impositions in the market place. Maybe the only thing more hated is automated phone answering systems.
There is no doubt scrapping these fees is opportunistic. There is no mention, you will note, of doing anything about the blight foisted on society by the blood-sucking retail banking credit card business.
"You have a long way to go," I said to my television screen.
Following the news, I watched the Australian Broadcasting Commission's 7.30 Report, without which the world would be a far less tolerable place. They covered the NAB fee-scrapping news too, and had managed to grab a word with the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd.
My Rudd welcomed the decision to scrap overdue account fees, but then said the NAB has "a long way to go".
Something positive from a bank and the PM agrees with me. It was a good news day.
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The other banks will follow suit, to a lesser or greater degree, when forced to do so by legislation expected to come into effect this year.
What would really be good news is the banks demonstrating some social responsibility, as opposed to social wrecking ball, with credit cards.