UK's BT Charges Extra To Receive Cash, Cheque Payments

Many of us refuse to use direct debits because it puts someone else in some control over our bank accounts. Moreover, direct debits on utilities etc force us to leave an amount of money (a few hundred) in our bank accounts permanently for fear that we will miss seeing a bill and a direct debit will make us go overdrawn and subsequently be bank charged for this. Whereas if we are sent a bill to pay by cheque or cash, we can select from which account we wish to pay the bill from, having made sure FIRST it will not make us go into overdraft and be charged.

I strongly believe the REAL reason Banks encourage people to use direct debits is a) because with them there is a greater probability people will go overdrawn by carelessness/oversight and consequently be charged (as already explained) and b) the extra margin of cash left in current accounts by millions of careful people to ensure direct debits don't make them go overdrawn the bank can use a proportion of which to gamble on the currency markets and thereby make more "money for nothing" then they would otherwise have done if people had left less in their current accounts. I understand (from James Robertson- famous monetary reform expert) that Banks don't as many people believe, keep their own and their customers money separate, so because of this they can gamble some of their customers' money on the money markets.

Incidentally, if you are interested in learning more about the unbelievable injustice where a small elite of private banks create the electronic money for mortgages and loans OUT OF THIN AIR- how the money lent is not depositors money at all; how they are charging a tribute- interest- for money which did not exist before the loan was made, so getting money back in the form of interest for nothing; as I say if you are interested in learning more about this then please have a look at the extremely concise and easy to understand article at http://www.bilderberg.org/monref.htm.

BT says their charge is a legitimate one for administration but I simply don't believe that it costs them anything like £4.50 for EACH customer to process a cheque with the enormous economies of scale for millions of people who still pay by cheque. And what about people who would make an electronic payment (eg telephone banking) in response to a bill? BT still has to send out a paper warning bill even for people who pay by direct debit. And even if BT said the charge was because their bank charges THEM for cheque processing, BT like all big institutions TENDERS out its banking contract (currently with Barclays)- it could simply say if you are going to charge our customers eg £4.50 per quarter through us, we will simply place our huge revenue stream with another bank who doesn't. I wonder if in the above ways BT is colluding with the banks so they can make even more silly profiteering out of us?.

BT has got a monopoly on home phone LANDlines as follows: I have found you can only get one from a cable TV provider if you take broadband &/or cable TV as well- relatively highly expensive. And if you get a landline from another provider such as the postoffice (PO) home phone scheme its still via the BT landline and even though your contract is with the PO, they have to pay BT much of your line rental charge. You see BT have realised that they have a monopoly on people who want landline only so are cynically imposing new charges. But its still worth switching to PO (see below) because your contract once being with them will not force you to pay by Direct Debit and ALSO Post office will pay BT quite a bit LESS as a wholesale charge for the multiple landlines than lots of people paying BT as direct customers. So we’ll still be punishing BT for their outrageous and cynical soul-less corporation new charges.

In summary I believe the £18 annual surcharge for paying by cheque to be outrageous and must be resisted by customers, pressure groups and OFCOM at all costs.

Finally & MOST IMPORTANTLY may I suggest that people leave BT immediately- before MAY 2007 when BT will also start charging an exit fee it seems- IN DROVES- for the Post Office's Telephone account the terms of which I have just checked are not levying charges on people for paying by cheque or cash. Its charging is fairly similar to BTs (cheaper for certain calling patterns). Pick up a leaflet from the post office. I promise you I do not work for them I just want to hit BT for these OUTRAGES and Banks in the pocket where it hurts and so force a re-think.