Hi guys,
Am sure this question has been asked before but I feel we can continue to ask it! I was wondering how many here are still banking with the big 4 like me? Why do you stay with them? My research indicates almost all local level credit unions/building societies are better capitalised, charge much less in the way of fees, provide all the same services, etc. Not to mention the fact that to a CU/BS you are not a "market share" and the manager won't get fired by shareholders for less profits.
I moved to Melbourne earlier this year to work at Melbourne University. To that end I have been examining the MU Credit Union website to compare with my current offerings. Pretty much feeling like a sucker based on the comparison, why have I been banking with Commonwealth all these years, other than they started me a dollarmite account when I was in kindergarten?
So if you are still with the big 4, why so? What would it take to get you to change? Are you a shareholder of your bank (so that at least some of this gouging ends up in your pocket as dividends)? Are you concerned by what generally seems to be a poor level of capital backing compared to credit unions (e.g. Commonwealth seems to hold tier 1 capital ratio of <8% but MUCU holds >17% tier 1 capital ratio?) in the event of another crises? If you are both a loan holder and deposit holder at a big bank aren't you angry that they are passing on rate hikes to debtors but not at the same ratio to creditors (sometimes in excess of a 2% differential)? Do you really buy this garbage about "increased funding costs" considering that since the GFC started Australian debt paper has had huge capital inflows from foreign sources (in fact if it wasn't for these most investment banks would have collapsed by now I'm sure).
I plan on closing out all accounts with Commonwealth, ING and Comsec within the month to start 2010 afresh. My main goals will be to get better rates (as both a loan holder and deposit holder), hold the assurance of almost triple the capitalisation of my current banking solutions, support the local economy instead of profit hungry shareholders, and most importantly pass a message onto these big banks about why they are losing my business.
Your comments and thoughts are appreciated.
Am sure this question has been asked before but I feel we can continue to ask it! I was wondering how many here are still banking with the big 4 like me? Why do you stay with them? My research indicates almost all local level credit unions/building societies are better capitalised, charge much less in the way of fees, provide all the same services, etc. Not to mention the fact that to a CU/BS you are not a "market share" and the manager won't get fired by shareholders for less profits.
I moved to Melbourne earlier this year to work at Melbourne University. To that end I have been examining the MU Credit Union website to compare with my current offerings. Pretty much feeling like a sucker based on the comparison, why have I been banking with Commonwealth all these years, other than they started me a dollarmite account when I was in kindergarten?
So if you are still with the big 4, why so? What would it take to get you to change? Are you a shareholder of your bank (so that at least some of this gouging ends up in your pocket as dividends)? Are you concerned by what generally seems to be a poor level of capital backing compared to credit unions (e.g. Commonwealth seems to hold tier 1 capital ratio of <8% but MUCU holds >17% tier 1 capital ratio?) in the event of another crises? If you are both a loan holder and deposit holder at a big bank aren't you angry that they are passing on rate hikes to debtors but not at the same ratio to creditors (sometimes in excess of a 2% differential)? Do you really buy this garbage about "increased funding costs" considering that since the GFC started Australian debt paper has had huge capital inflows from foreign sources (in fact if it wasn't for these most investment banks would have collapsed by now I'm sure).
I plan on closing out all accounts with Commonwealth, ING and Comsec within the month to start 2010 afresh. My main goals will be to get better rates (as both a loan holder and deposit holder), hold the assurance of almost triple the capitalisation of my current banking solutions, support the local economy instead of profit hungry shareholders, and most importantly pass a message onto these big banks about why they are losing my business.
Your comments and thoughts are appreciated.