James Daley: A Fair Request? Computer Says No...
The bank charges scandal has been bad news for just about everyone who has a bank account over the past couple of years. While it might be those who have been stung for hundreds or thousands of pounds worth of charges who shout loudest about the injustice, the pressure on the banks has left them taking it out on all their customers
I've been banking with HSBC for 12 years now (as well as a couple more when I was about 11, back in the days when it was still called Midland), and have always been a good customer. I've taken out graduate loans, credit cards, savings accounts and have even bought insurance for my cards from them (which I'm not sure I even need).
On top of that, I've paid my salary into my current account every month – money for them to play around with while it's there – and have always stayed within the terms of my contract. All in all, I think I've been a pretty good customer – and if I'm lucky enough to keep on earning, then I'll be worth much more in the years to come.
That is, of course, if I stay with them. And after this week, I'm really not sure I will.
This week's insanity was what you might call a "computer says no" moment – where an organisation refuses to listen to reason or logic because an inanimate object tells them that it's not company policy.
All I'd asked for was a £100 overdraft in the joint account that I hold with my wife. We use this account slightly differently to our main accounts, and once or twice we've let it slip into the red.
I realised that if we kept doing this, we were going to get hit with lots of charges, so I thought it would be best to put a buffer in place.
The assistant on the phone said that, given I have a £2,000 overdraft limit on my personal account, there was a chance my application would be turned down. Seeing as I never use this overdraft (a legacy from my student days) I suggested I have my limit cut right back to, say, £1,000 or £500, in return for a small overdraft on my joint account.
My friend on the phone was not sure whether this would help, and warned me that if I cut my main overdraft limit and was then rejected on the joint account, I may not be able to get it back.
So, on his advice, we made the application straight off – and, surprise, surprise, computer said no.
At this point, the call centre operative broke the bad news to me that, even if I now cut my main overdraft limit, it would have no impact on their decision. Once the computer's said no, it means no – no matter how reasonable your argument is.
If I had reduced my main overdraft limit from £2,000 to £500, and was given a £100 limit on my joint account, the bank would have £1,400 less exposure.
If, for example, I went crazy and decided to go on a spending binge before shooting myself in the head, I currently have £2,000 at my disposal to do it with. Under my plan, I'd be cutting this back to just £600. Surely a no-brainer for the bank.
I'm told that the head of risk at HSBC – the person who is in charge of these computer decisions – earns a six-figure sum. I think I could do a far better job, and I'd do it for half whatever he's on. But I imagine, the computer would only say no.