Personally I would move, I believe we shouldn't have to pay to have our money in an account, unless it is one of these accounts with 'bonuses'.

Does anyone know if this would just apply to banks or would it include building societies?

I believe the banks are making a lot of money and are getting greeder, it's all in a name of shareholders who get penuts compare to greedy bosses to earn their big bonuses.
People will have no choice because all the banks evetualy put up the charges anyhow.
I believe government will not interfear for the sake of their own jobs after loosing election, that seems to be the trend in politics, that's why people wants to be a minister not to serve public but for personal benefits.

Let me tell you a recent story.
My girlfriend decides to open a new bank account. She receives the debit card and calls in to activate the card. At that stage she gets someone on the phone telling her to pay an insurance over her bank account to protect her against fraud.
My question now is: aren't we all putting our money into banks accounts to protect our money? Why should anyone pay for an insurance to make sure that the money is in fact protected and does not leave our bank account? We trust them to keep our money safe and sound and we are also to pay a premium to make sure that the money stays there? There is the need for more regulation as it seems to me that the only ones benefiting from people having bank accounts are in fact the banks and their insurance companies. We are no longer the onwers of our money.
If someone provide me a service I would expect this service to be delviered to me as a consumer. Would you insure the delivery of your washing machine and have to pay for it? The banks should put in place measures tha prevent from any kind of fraud. Each and everyone of them reported billions of profits year on year and we are all paying for this.

Regards

In many countries monthly banking charges are a norm and not an exception, however, what people don't realise is that even those banks still charge you if you go over your overdraft limit or if they bounce a cheque or standing order or even direct debit. On top of that, they also charge for deposits, internet banking, etc. Either way one looks at this, the consumer is the looser. The bank will never loose. I agree with penalty charges, provided they are fair & just, which they are currently not. Would I be happy to pay a monthly fee? No I would not. However, due to circumstances that were beyond my control I have landed myself in hot water, working through it slowly, but moving my account would not be an option, as I cannot get anything more then a basic account. So people like me, would be stuck with no alternative but to pay the monthly charge. It's a real shame. The only ones to benefit out of this is the banks!!!

I have no problem with banks charging if I go into overdraft. They are there to make money. What I haver a problem with is repeated charges, sometimes daily! Then they will charge an overdraft fee if it is an overdraft fee that caused the overdraft in the firts place.

Then, you can offer to pay by debit card at PoS and they can decline if you are overdrawn. However, you can pay by card at the till, and then the bank will allow you to withdraw from a ATM, even though this, together with the PoS charge, puts you into overdraft - then they'll charge you for it!!!

I agree that the only winners are the banks. They get to cut the cake all ways - use our money for hedge funds/investments, assault us with penalty charges, and then at any excuse rip us off with additional service charges (set at huge premiums) for reasonable requests. Surely the monopolies commission should be concerned with the acts of the 'junta' of banks. Does this country posess a banking commission with any teeth to bite back at the banks?

All of this proves the old saying that money attracts money, as the only ones who have any are the banks. Even goverment has to cow tow to the banks, as they owe more than the rest of us put together!

If Gordan Brown, PM, wants to really show he can control the countries economy, then it is time to cut the banks off at the knees. Time they were put in their place, to remember they are a parasital service industry that produces nothing and deserves precisely what it makes.

'viva la revolution', good luck to the little guy, we could shout, but we are all realistic enough to know that is just a pipe dream. Because until we seperate money from power nothing will ever change.

The only reason I have a current account is to pay my wages into as the international company I work for will not pay me in cash.
I often get asked by my bank if I want to upgrade and I will get free mobile phone insurance and car breakdown cover. It is not free, I would have to pay a monthly fee. My responce to my bank is 'my phone only cost me £17.50 and my Dad fixes my car.
I feel that they are defrauding the consumer by saying free when they actually mean fee.
If My bank started charging for my basic current account I would move and keep moving.
A bank account was once somewhere to save, now it has become a neccesety. The majority of us now get paid by electronic transfer, keeping the money in the bosses hands for as long as possible to earn them interest.
Who gets paid weekly or in cash anymore? waiters and waitresses maybe?

How about this, I become a bank, lets call it NatLloyclays, 10% of the working population put their earnings into it and for no charge, I earn the interest on the average of what is in the coffers, a few measly percent of the billions per day that are in the virtual vault. Yup, I think I should be able to balance my books with that amount of free cash coming in!! Don?t feel sorry for the banks, they have been riding the gravy train for decades and remember, the penalty charge refunds will not result in them making a loss, very far from it, what it will mean is that they will make a tiny fraction less that they have made, do make and desperately want to continue to make. In fact, I reckon that they secretly welcome an excuse to charge for making money with our money, that way their income would be assured and not left to us to be foolish enough to accidentally provide the cream on the top of their already sickening profits.