BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[Tizer]

Our John Lewis deliveries always arrive on time and intact. They use a company that employs freelance couriers and the one who visits us is great - it doesn't matter that he arrives in a little private car, he gets here at a sensible time of day, rain or shine, with a smile and a few words of conversation. In fact the little car is better for our country lanes and he drives responsibly instead of thundering down like a juggernaut.

[hartley353]

Yes tizer, we should credit some of these privateer delivery drivers, a small proportion of our deliveries come this way. They come after most folks have returned home and even on a sunday. Our driver is usualy the same woman, and she is most pleasant.

[Stanley]

Two parcels of books arrived yesterday by Royal Mail, both from Somerset both posted on Tuesday.

[hartley353]

The royal mail deserves our thanks, and for us to retain it as a national organisation belonging to us all, should we wish to get rid of anything it would be the High speed rail link totally unwarranted in every aspect.

[Tripps]

I see that the Chief Executive of the recently re - activated Trustee Savings Bank now TSB is called Peter Pester. I bet he was previously head of telephone marketing.

[Stanley]

Sorry to continue off piste but this is where we have been discussing it. My mate in Wales is sending me a 20kg parcel of photographic negatives. That's right, I trusted him enough to have a small slice of the archive! He arranged it yesterday with DHL and this morning I got an email alerting me to the pick-up and delivery to me a day later. We shall see if this level of attention to detail is kept up!

[Bruff]

Off topic, but the mentioning of Mr Pester there reminds me that the head of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents is Tom Mallarky........

Richard Broughton

[Stanley]

Richard, my favourite has always been Cardinal Sin of the Philippines....

[Tizer]

I don't have much hope for Lloyds Bank and its split from TSB. Mrs Tiz has to deal with them again using power of attorney for her dad and has just tried to make an appointment with them to initiate the process. She rang the general number of the local branch in our Somerset town and had to wait a while and then the line went dead, so she then rang the 0845 number on a business card she got from the local manager. This was answered but by someone in Glasgow. She had to make an appointment with the Somerset manager by talking to this person in Glasgow! In another attempt at phoning she been told by an automated voice to key in her account number, which she didn't do - it's a great system for someone to spoof and collect personal details!

And now this news about Santander on the BBC:
Arrests over 'cyber plot' to steal from Santander bank: Santander branch Police said the bank could have lost "millions"
Twelve men have been arrested over an "audacious" alleged plot to remotely take control of a bank's computer. Police found a device fitted to a computer in a branch of Santander which would have enabled the suspects to download data from the desktop machine. Police arrested 12 men, aged between 23 and 50, in London on suspicion of conspiracy to steal. The "very significant" plot targeted the bank branch in Surrey Quays in south-east London, police said.

A Santander spokesman said a man pretending to be an engineer had tried to fit the device to one of the computers in the bank. Several addresses in Hounslow, Brent, Hillingdon, Westminster, Richmond and Slough were searched and property was seized. The arrested men, who were detained on Thursday, remain in police custody. The Metropolitan Police said its "time-critical, dynamic response" had thwarted a "very significant and audacious cyber-enabled offence".
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-24077094

[Stanley]

I'm puzzled by the Santander incident. The first thing that strikes me is that I suspect if they hadn't caught them we would never have heard a peep about it. The bank trumpeted the success as being due to their 'robust security systems' but from what I heard the bogus technician was allowed access to the machine and it was only when the staff noted that he was obviously incompetent that the alarm was raised. What does this say about security? Surely he should never have got in in the first place? How many successful breaches of security are there? Would the bank ever tell us or are they more likely to bury the loss in 'operational expenses'.
Have a look at this LINK and then ask yourself two questions. Who guards the guardians? How widespread is this disconnect between the demands of a post and the personal predilections of the person involved. (I am thinking about persons with an interest in private health provision and PFI being co-opted onto boards supposedly overseeing these matters.

[Tizer]

With the advent of PINs we learnt that the banks are very good at trying to convince us that they have security fully under control. Within weeks the PIN system had been shown by computer experts to be fallible but the banks still don't admit it and blame customers for releasing their PINs. But then we shouldn't be surprised that banks are good at pulling the wool over our eyes - since Roman times they've been conning us into believing that they held more money than they do and are safer and stronger than they are. It's the only way that the system hangs together, otherwise we'd all be queuing up now to get our cash out. The Emperor’s not only got new clothes, he's keeping your money safe for you too!

[PanBiker]

Three Barlick banks are definitely hanging on to it tonight! Lloyds TSB hole in the wall won't take your card, Yorkshire takes the card and offers to top up your mobile or change your pin, all cash vending options greyed out, and Barclay's machine is just displaying a message to say don't bother. so much for instant access to your cash.

[Stanley]

I was struck by the fact that it appears that the organisation that sets up direct debits for the banks does it on sort codes and account numbers alone, they do not cross check names and addresses. The banks say no need to worry because any spurious transactions will be refunded. Problem is of course that the other customers eventually pay for this sloppy attitude.

[hartley353]

From the perspective of a person who was allowed on to bank premises every day for eight years, all it would take is the presentation of a photo ID card. Bank rules are that a phone call should be made to check the person is valid, and the branch should have been informed of that persons attendance prior to arrival. In my eight years the procedure was only invoked on a couple of dozen occasions, Usualy when they were being audited. Only once was I turned away for not having an appointment, and this was by the banks security auditor, who by coincidence was at the counter at the same time as myself. Security in banking is very lax, but judged by most companies security is probably of a sameness.

[Tizer]

In this current Santander incident the bank has been giving the impression that its own security prevented the attack being successful when the truth is that the police had been tracking this gang for 4 months, knew in advance what they were planning, told the bank and and arranged for it to allow them in so they could be caught red-handed.

Stanley has listened to Paul Lewis' excellent `Money Box' programme and its report on direct debits. It's also reported on this BBC news page by Money Box's Bob Howard:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-24085200
The programme should be broadcast again at 21.00 this evening (15 Sep 2013) and there will be a written transcript on this web page eventually:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b039yp0m

More news...
"The Financial Conduct Authority has meted out a £1.8 million fine to Axa Wealth Services, part of the insurance and asset management group's UK business, for putting thousands of its customers at risk of buying unsuitable investment products. The FCA found "serious defects" in Axa's customer advice, including: not always confirming the level of risk that customers were prepared to take and explaining to customers the level of risk they would be taking; not ensuring customers could manage financially if the value of their investment fell; not gathering enough information from customers before recommending investments to them; and not properly explaining why recommended investments were deemed to be suitable for customers. The FCA also identified a failure by Axa to have effective controls over bonus payments for sales advisers, leading to an "unacceptable risk of sales advisers making inappropriate investment recommendations to customers in order to qualify for bonus payments".
http://www.efinancialnews.com/story/201 ... b04d673622

[Stanley]

I missed Paul actually because I had crossed the Manorial Boundary into Earby but heard the report on the news....

[Tardis]

Selling 6% of Lloyds stake (£3.2 billion) raises a paper profit of £60 million

[Tizer]

BBC News,16 September 2013
Barclays faces £50m fine from the FCA watchdog for Qatari deal
"The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is warning Barclays Bank of a £50m fine for its 2008 investment deal with Qatari investors. The FCA said it had "acted recklessly" and breached some rules over disclosing some aspects of the deal and had failed to "act with integrity towards holders and potential holders" of its shares....The FCA accused the bank of agreeing £322m in secret payments to investors to gain their support for a previous share issuance, worth just over £5bn, taken up in 2008 by Qatar Holding, part of the state-owned investment authority of Qatar. Barclays said the fees were for giving advice. "


BBC News, 17 September 2013
Barclays to refund at least 300,000 borrowers
Barclays Bank is to refund at least 300,000 personal loan customers because it made mistakes on their paperwork. If mistakes are made in loan paperwork, all interest paid must be returned. The errors, which are expected to cost Barclays about £100m, date back to October 2008. The bank said it would begin to contact the affected customers in the next month. It is investigating whether similar mistakes had been made in other parts of the business such as Barclaycard.

Don't you just love banks?

[Stanley]

The dreadful Damon McBride's revelations include Gordon Brown panicking about public unrest if the banks failed. Fear was definitely a factor in the 2008 bail-out.

[Tizer]

More bad news about bank security, although we have to congratulate the police for catching the criminals.
Barclays Bank computer theft: Eight held over £1.3m haul
"Eight men have been arrested in connection with a £1.3m theft by a gang who took control of a Barclays Bank computer. The money was transferred from the branch in Swiss Cottage in north London in April, a Met Police spokesman said. Searches are being carried out at addresses across London where property including cash, jewellery, drugs and credit cards has been seized."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-24172305

This follows the attack on Santander. Barclays said: "Barclays has no higher priority than the protection and security of our customers against the actions of would-be fraudsters. We identified the fraud and acted swiftly to recover funds on the same day. We can confirm that no customers suffered financial loss as a result of this action." This is all very well but they should have better security in place to prevent these incursions in the first place. As someone commented on the news : "The banks are always telling their customers to check their accounts and take care with their cards but it's time the bank employees starting looking at what is connected to their computers".

[Stanley]

Do you get the feeling we are being fed just as much as it's good for us to know?

[Tizer]

Yes, and it's still the case that if all your money disappears from your bank account and the bank say it's your fault you can't report it to the police as a potential fraud - they won't do anything unless the bank itself reports the loss. Catch 22, the bank blames it on you and won't investigate, the police don't want to know and and won't investigate.

[Stanley]

Bloody Hell Tiz. Didn't realise it was as bad as that. Who the hell do we trust these days?

[Tizer]

Definitely not the big organisations and especially not those in the financial services industry.
There was report in The Times last week about people with online accounts at the Bank of Scotland not being able to close the account online and having to go to a branch to close it - even though all the branches are in Scotland but the accounts are promoted UK-wide. When customers in England found out and complained they couldn't travel all the way to Scotland to close an account they were told that it was stated in the terms & conditions. It's a staggering level of arrogance but sums up the attitude of the banking industry. The management have lost control, they don't know what's going on in their company (or don't care) and they live in a different world to the rest of us. It's time for a change.

[hartley353]

Barclays Bank is to close its Somali money services businesses. This will make it very difficult for somali people living in this country to support friends and family in Somalia. One of the the people affected by this is Somalia born Mo Farah his charity uses this service. If you bank with Barclays, and you care let them know.