Seven Billion Reasons…
Sympathy for banks took another nose dive today when Barclay’s bank released figures announcing a 35% jump in annual profits to a staggering £7.14billion. Furious consumer groups were outraged at these latest figures bearing in mind the innocence banks proclaim regarding bank and interest charges.
Further exasperating these groups is the lack of information offered by John Varley, Barclay’s Chief Executive, on the margins banks make from charged and interest rates levied on unauthorised overdrafts. In his statement he said ‘we [Barclays] will not drill down into each component of the income line’.
From figures that have been release we can assume that British banks made £4.7billion from fees and interest rates on unauthorised loans, around 10% of the annual profits of the ‘Big 5′.
Banks argue that these profits are good for the economy as we all enjoy free banking and all we have to do in return is keep in credit, which is often a hard task considering the constant rises in interest rates and easily available credit, all from our banks!
On a more positive note, January sales shoppers kept a close eye on their plastic cash last month. Infact, credit card debt fell by a record amount last month hopefully signalling a change in spending habits.
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