Firstly I have to admit that paying my visa card is an exercise that I complete on an irregular basis. Today however I decided to pay on time for once, and decided to pay a little extra so that I could purchase something on the internet.

 

I went into my internet bank site and logged on in the normal way. I went to “pay a bill section” clicked the bill I wanted to pay and paid it. When this was done I received a note telling me that the “payment could take up to 5 working days”. I said to myself “feck that for a game of soldiers”, so I decided to call the  visa card department to ascertain why it could take up to 5 working days for the money to arrive in my visa account, given that my current account was down by some €2500 immediately, and my card was issued by the same Bank.

 

I was told that “that’s the way the bank does it”, “feckin brilliant” I said to myself, I decided to call my Bank Manager at branch to verify this is the case, he confirmed that it was. When I calmed down I began to muse to myself as to what, roughly, would the extra income that bank will generate from this transaction, if everyone in Ireland were to do the same thing as I did.

 

Here we go, according to research carried out by the Central Bank, it was estimated that at the end of November 2004 there was €1.8billion outstanding in the form of credit card debt, I suppose as consumer credit was increasing at a growth run rate of approx 20% year on year ,this would make this figure about €3 billion today give or take a couple of €100 million, Credit Card interest is on average 16.3% Apr so this would give an interest income to the Banks of approximately €489m per annum, assuming that the amount outstanding stays fairly constant. This equates to €1.4m a day so should we all endeavour to pay off our balances today and it takes “5 working days for the funds to reach your account” the Banks will glean close to €10m , the interest is also calculated at the weekend.(Not to mention any late payment fee that maybe charged by some providers)

 

Secondly the Bank will also have €3 billion on deposit with an interest rate of say 4.5% they will additionally earn close to €370k free.

 

So to summarise the Banks will clear close to €10.4m just because you decided to pay off your credit card, properly.

 

Feck’in hell this is really annoying s##t of huge proportions, maybe its time for the Banks to wear masks, at least that way we’ll know we are being Ripped Off.

 

AT LEAST DICK TURPIN WORE A MASK WHEN HE WAS ROBBING PEOPLE

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I have just checked my Credit Card Balance online, they put up the payment yesterday, despite telling me that it could'nt be done. Always remember that its your money, not theirs, and if you stay silent they will mug you.

Also remember there is competition out there, its an oligopoly, but you can change.

get up earlier you lazy git, then you wouldnt be sitting in traffic

What does getting up early have to do with Paying a Visa Card, you obviously shoot first and listen later. Any more personal attacks and I'll delete any comment you make, show a little manners if that is possible.