(Can't complain about eg German banks too much in that regard. But the British banks are really the scum of the earth as far as `not being evil' to poorer customers is concerned..)
* Free real debit cards you can use online vs crappy card that only works in person
* Free, as long as you're careful not to go overdrawn vs frequently charge per month
* Usually free credit cards if you want one vs annual fee
* No charges for depositing cheques, cash, etc vs fees
* Withdraw money for free from any other UK bank cash machine (ATM) vs lots of fees
* Get paid 5 pounds/month for having a Halifax account!
UK banks are not good if you can't keep a positive balance, but if you're careful with your money they're great. The only issue I've run into UK banks is that they'll use bad exchange rates vs German banks, but they need to make money somewhere.
I was flabbergasted to hear about overdraft fees when I first saw them feature in social justice documentaries (e.g. Spent: looking for change).
My interest is low, but that's normal in 2016. .5% to .9%
Any CC payment I make is deducted from my checking acc 30 days later, no interest. It's essentially a normal debit card with 1 month free credit. After that it's 12-14% interest per year. That's very high of course, but it's not exploitative like a payday scheme. Further, keeping CC debt is quite uncommon here. And I can borrow up to $25k at 8.9% say for buying a car. That's pretty steep but not high compared to other countries, it's also not a very popular product. Mortgage interest is currently 2.9% fixed for 30 years.
As for my bank account, I pay about $15 a year for it. There's no costs to depositing or withdrawing money, putting it in or taking it out of a savings account. I mostly bank via an app on my phone, and payments arrive in minutes or hours. I don't pay anything for the shared acc with my gf either. For the CC I pay an extra $15 per year or so I think.
Now if this was a new startup in a growth phase where it's burning cash and offering free services, sure, but this bank was founded in the 1880s and has had roughly this pricing scheme as long as I can remember.
All in all I think I've paid maybe $250 for all by banking in the past 10 years.
Normal in the EU and other place unfortunately. Oz is still at 3.5% in saving accounts.
This was ruled to be illegal and banks had to set up whole departments to process return claims. I suspect this is the main cause of the big headwind.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/commitment-high-street-banks-ret...
They also charged a fee for standing orders that didn't go through because of limited funds in your account. Instead of just ignoring them.
https://www.fca.org.uk/news/commitment-high-street-banks-ret...