When I find a good financial product I write about it because the media’s role should not just be to dish out dirt, but also to applaud when financial companies meet our needs. But I have to admit that two banks I have written about recently have let me down. The first is Virgin Money. While certainly stirring things up a bit in the banking world and producing a solid offering with good deposit rates and no annual fee or cold calling on their credit card, I was bemused by the letter they sent out to customers at the beginning of the year. I am not sure if they were being tongue in cheek or actually believed their clients would fall for their attempts to make some cutbacks look like positive changes. The letter pronounced that change is good and necessary, and then went on to explain that the bank’s call centre hours were being shortened and that customers were losing one of their loyalty partners — Primi Piatti. The business logic for the call centre was that they never receive calls in the evening, so it makes business sense to cut it back; and as I don’t eat at Primi Piatti it is no big deal, but the tone of the letter that tried to convince me that this was all a fantastic move, was a bit off.
Then there is Nedbank. A few months ago in an article I praised Nedbank about its fixed deposit rates and media campaign to use savings as a way to gain market share rather than credit extension. I wrote that this was a far more healthy approach to attracting customers and possibly more sustainable. However, conversations at cocktail parties would suggest that Nedbank has joined the other three banks in pushing credit down customer’s throats — and possibly using even more outrageous tactics. My favourite is a customer who was asked to urgently call her client service centre. The customer, concerned that there was a problem with her account, duly did so. The fact that she struggled for a day to get hold of anyone is an indictment in itself, but when she finally did, the reason for the bank’s request for her to call was the offer of a further credit card! No wonder Nedbank’s results were so good. Other customers have complained of being spammed with SMSs urging customers to act quickly as their final offer of getting them into hock will close on 31 March. At least with the implementation of the National Credit Act on June 1, it means this circus will end.