Today I went into my daughters bank and tried to put some cash into her account as she needed the money instantly. However I was told I would have to use an envelope and use one of the deposit machines in the branch. These take forever to get the money into the account. (HSBC deposit machines detect and count the cash instantly into ones account.)
I have advised her to close down her Natwest account and open one with a different bank, ie one that allows instant cash deposits from anybody.
The sooner that sending money to someone is as easy and cheap as sending a text or an email the better.
It really is about time we had some serious competition in the banking services field.
Unfortunately the government seems determined to maintain the massive undeserved margins of the banks.
It is a disgrace that in order to apply for a banking licence one must employ one of the old guard banking fraternity. I think full banking licences should be given to all the major supermarkets, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, McDonalds, Ford, etc.
This would definitely be in the interest of the public but it wont be done because the existing banks would empty overnight. Banking Law is in the interest of the banks and not the public.