Seems that our big four banks are showing more of their even nastier underbelly. Last Thursday the Herald Sun had an exclusive interview with a banking insider claiming that the big banks are “ramming credit cards down the throat of customers” aiming for them to spend their credit only to roll it back into their home loans. What they found was not only stories of greed and ‘sales driven approaches’, but that of intentional worsening of average Australian’s mortgage to ‘boost’ bottom line results.
Not only has this seen many banking customers with loans higher than the value of their property, many of them couldn’t afford an extension to begin with but were still issued new credit cards! The cherry on top of the icing is a recent Finance Sector Union survey which found a whopping 51% of banking staff had witnessed a customer being ‘steered towards’ a product they didn’t need. Correct me if I’m wrong but there are laws against this!
Changing the entire banking industry is not achievable over night, but that doesn’t mean you can’t put your own interests first.
Fact is, being disgruntled with your bank is not uncommon but often we are put off by the hassle of switching everyday accounts. Now, don’t be fooled by the boys in black suits, it’s really easy to close an existing account and open a new one, fact is soon even your direct credits and debits are just a tick away!
Rest assured the big lenders are sparing nothing to keep you in their claws. From January 1st financial institutions have been required to give out a ‘cheat sheet’ in a standardised format that helps you compare different mortgages between institutions, yet only one in 18 branches provided the sheet in a recent Choice investigation.
If you feel like your local banker is putting your interests on the back burner, do something about it! Switching banks have never been easier, so take charge of your finances and go guerrilla on the ‘big four’. There’s never been a better time to find great bargains for yourself as the last of the old loyalties fade away to the new ‘tick and flick’ economy.
If you have questions or need tips on how to best switch banks hop on to moneysmart.com.au for up to date information by ASIC, and hope that Gillards “Tick and Flick” policy comes through in July.
Your thoughts?