WARNING: This is Version 1 of my old archive, so Photos will NOT work and many links will NOT work. But you can find articles by searching on the Titles. There is a lot of information in this archive. Use the SEARCH BAR at the top right. Prior to December 2012; I was a pro-Christian type of Conservative. I was unaware of the mass of Jewish lies in history, especially the lies regarding WW2 and Hitler. So in here you will find pro-Jewish and pro-Israel material. I was definitely WRONG about the Boeremag and Janusz Walus. They were for real.
Original Post Date: 2008-04-27 Time: 00:00:00 Posted By: Jan
By CLAYTON BARNES
Just 18 percent of South Africans check their monthly bank statements for inaccuracies.
And financial website Justmoney says this is mainly due to bank statements being too complicated to understand.
Research on the website found 39 percent of South Africans found statements “far too complicated”, while 43 percent said they checked their statements “sometimes”. Only 18 percent said they always checked their statements.
This meant, said Justmoney managing director Paul Beadle, that most people would not know if their banks were overcharging them, a situation he described as “frightening”. Customers were often confused by the range and complexity of different bank tariffs, and it was often not clear from the bank statement what the bank charges related to. As a result many people simply did not understand their statements.
“A mistake might not even be the bank’s fault,” he said.
“Sometimes companies take a debit order twice in the same month, incurring double charges. Although the mistake is usually picked up and repaid by the company, the bank charge will still stand unless the customer spots the overcharge and requests a refund.”
He said there was a “bewildering” variety of pricing options, with some banks offering four or five different pricing structures for the same account, ranging from “pay-as-you-transact” to a “managed fee” and “rebate banking”.
“The banks say this provides people with more choice, but in reality it is too confusing for consumers, and often even bank branch staff can’t advise what the best pricing option is.”
Beadle said the best choice of pricing option depended on the number and types of transactions customers perform, which dictate the charges incurred.
He said customers could save on average between R75 and R100 a month by moving to a more cost-effective bank account.
“R75 a month may not sound like much of a saving, but with the current economic conditions, saving R900 a year on bank charges, plus additional savings by shopping around for cheaper credit cards and mortgages, could save a household thousands each year.”
But banks say their statements have been simplified over the past few years.
First National Bank’s head of pricing, James Fowle, acknowledged bank charges had been complex, but said over the past five years FNB had significantly simplified its pricing. The bank recently scrapped all its channel subscriptions, meaning no access fees were charged for online, telephone and cellphone banking.
“We also launched the Unlimited Option, where individuals can opt to pay a flat monthly fee of R66, which includes unlimited transactions of all types, except cheques, branch and Saswitch.”
Absa Bank’s product and pricing general manager, Janet Johnston, said Absa encouraged customers to check their statements, not just to view their bank charges but also to ensure that no fraudulent transactions had taken place.
When new accounts were opened, Absa sales consultants gave a product summary sheet to the client. “Should clients wish to forecast their future charges, they have access to Absa’s Online Banking Fees calculator,” said Johnston.
Account statements had also been made more user-friendly.