Banks, anyone have anything good to say about them? Nationwide customers had problems with their accounts being double debited, which is not exactly a helpful experience when many people will be enjoying the summer holiday, possibly unaware of the glitch that is playing havoc with their balances. I’m afraid that I have to admit to losing my temper with my own Bank. Like many banks it has “special” accounts although I cannot see the point of most of the additional services except for those relating to identity theft and fraud, which frankly ought to be the responsibility of the Bank not me. Anyway I lost my patience with them having failed to get even the vaguest of useful website access which kept looping around back onto itself, offering the hope of delivering useful information but failing miserably. So I gave up in order to try the telephone service. Considering that this is meant to be “exclusive” (yes, I’m not that naïve) after 5 or 6 minutes of waiting to speak to a human I gave up. Banks cannot even get the very basics of what they do right. Sadly all this really does Is alienate customers, which is a salutary reminder that having an IT system does not replace personal service.

Mind you, I’m fairly sure that some people do get a great service from their Bank. Take Jerry de Missier, the former Chief Operating Officer at Barclays, who is reported to have been able to withdraw £8.75million in cash. He is accused of being one of those involved with the LIBOR rate rigging scandal that seems to engulf more Banks by the day. We all know that there is no such thing as “free banking” but it seems that Adair Turner the current Chairman of the FSA, thinks everyone should pay for current accounts. He is one of the people in the running to become the next Governor of the Bank of England. Meanwhile European shares are on the rise because the European Central Bank or rather Mario Draghi has promised “to do whatever it takes” to support the Euro. Whilst to some this provides much needed confidence, I remain very dubious about anyone that makes such a statement, which smacks of desperation and gives the appearance of having bottomless pockets, which is of course utter nonsense. I would prefer Europeans to restrict their flamboyance to their design and creation of wonderful cars, clothing, food and wine. Perhaps the sudden hot weather in London has gone to my head, but are Banks really this bad?

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