Bank Run 2010 Dec 7th

The power of this kind of movement lies in the sheer number of people that are prepared to do a single action together at more or less the same time. The banks need to see that we are serious and see that there are a lot of people that are willing or at least thinking about closing their account on the 7th of December because they are unhappy.

So I have removed the poll that was up before. The results were pretty clear amongst the small group of a few hundred people that voted back in 2009 that clients are unhappy and prepared to change their account. There were also people that said that they were happy too. However a few hundred is not enough and this needs to be spread more widely. So I have started two new polls. If you look on the left you will see the two polls asking if you are happy with your present bank and asking if you are prepared to complete the following act of moving your bank account.

I know this all sounds a bit confusing "moving bank accounts" and what affect will that have but what I propose is not to take on the whole financial system but rather to single out one bank and use our power against one bank then move onto the other banks. We as a group tackle them one by one like they pick on us one by one. So I have added a third poll for all of us to decide which bank should be first. If the bank you are unhappy with is not on the list please let me know so that I can add it.

Again this will only work when there are lots of us so please spread the word.

Eric Cantona 7th Dec

Dec 7th with Eric Cantona is a great idea and its great that everyone is catching on. It's an idea I was hoping to spread in 2009. Now the world is understanding this power we wield as consumers,we need to use it carefully. We don't want to destroy the banks we want to maim them. Teach them a lesson and at the same time start rebalancing the relationship between them and us, between corporations and consumers or a consumer union. We need to withdraw our money unless....... What do we feel needs to be rebalanced? Would it not be nice to not be charged 30 pounds for receiving a letter. Why not just 1 pound, it can't cost that much? Or at the other end of the scale asking for all fines to be refunded to all clients that are involved, for the last 30 years? A more clear and effective complaints system that is independent and fines the bank in small amounts in favour to the client who has been wronged?

I am not going to be the sole decision maker so why do we not ask for suggestions and do a new poll? Lets act on December the 7th but act smartly to our advantage.

Please write suggestions and please vote.

What to do

This process is not something that will happen with out effort. Like the environment we all have to do our bit. I do not want to use slogans but if we want a different world that reflects our wishes and needs we have to act, and influence social and economic progress. Spend half an hour on the Internet, use this tool, get some information. Research other banks and accounts. You will very probably find a better account and bank, more suited to what you really want. But think about safety, reliability, trust, honesty and maybe even morals. For example; do we want an account that offers you something for six months just to suck you in. I do not feel this is correct unless you can change your account after those six months, a marketing trick. Honest? Do we want a bank that gives out fees like confeti hoping that their clients won't kick up a fuss so they have to reverse these gratuitous charges. When is the last time the bank send you twenty pounds for a letter you had to write to them? We want a bank that plays by the rules, not just the legal words but the meaning of the contracts they have with their customers. Select a new bank and account. But if we are going to act together we must get our timing right. So keep this account as the potential next account.

It is time to use our individual power as a consumer. Our democratic right to vote with out feet. Exercising our right as consumers together will make our voice louder. The key is acting together, everyone. Not just people with overdrafts but also people with money in their accounts. Don't tell me that most of us have not had a a letter that cost us twenty pounds for the pleasure or an excessive or unnecessary fee or fine. It may not have been a lot monetarily but, it is the principle. We should not have to spend time solving bank errors or crazy fees. Lets face it they do not make it easy.

Most importantly is numbers. If you agree with the above and would actually like to do something and have an effect then please get your friends and colleagues to read this blog and vote in the poll even if you love your bank.

Thank you for your comments. When I have been writing these blogs I have had the UK banks in mind. So I thank our international commenters for their remarks. I hope that blogs for other countries will pop up using the simple concept of focusing consumer power. However, as most of you have noticed there are no ads or any monetising elements on this blog. I do not have the time or resources to do this for lots of countries, I am just a normal person with a job. I had hoped to leave that to other people. But the more information we can all share the better we can act, maybe even act together, so thank you and keep commenting.

What am I thinking?

I do not want to talk about bonuses as I believe I understand what has happened. Its simple: if someone makes you ten million pounds in a year I, and most people would be happy to pay them one million. Would you pay them two? Of course, as they still make you eight million. So with high competition from other potential employers how far does this go? Well in reality to 9,999,999 pounds. So the excessive figures have quite simply twisted peoples thinking and fired that ever present sin called greed. It is human.

So whilst we are on the subject of competition let me tell you what I am thinking and where I think we are going. Perfect competition. The sooner we get there the better but the journey will need a rebalancing of power.

Perfect competition is when there are enough producers and consumers that the prices are high enough to give all producers a small profit and to give all consumers reasonable prices. Because of the high level of competition it forces producers to reach maximum efficiency. All prices are the same because there is something called perfect information which is when all parties involved learn all information all at the same time. Twenty years ago this would have seemed like a Utopian concept but with the Internet I would say that we are definitely getting closer. To see a better definition of perfect competition please go to the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfect_competition

What we have is lots of consumers not getting the right information from producers/banks and hence not acting together. The banks however, although not openly acting together seem to do everything in a very similar fashion. Maybe this is down to Game Theory but I do not feel that consumers have much power at all in the banking world. Please see this link for an interesting article from the BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8268599.stm


The concept of banks borrowing money from their customers and paying an interest rate to be able to re use that money seems to have been twisted by the banks: the concept has been lost in the slow creeping mist of slogans and PR. We now have to pay to lend them money. Whether that be through account costs, fines, letters or any other weird way they can think of to take money from our pockets. In reality they should pay us to use our money. All I can say is very good marketing, advertising and propaganda by the banks. However we are at fault too. We believe all this rubbish they tell us and we see on TV. The only way to deal with a group of corporations that seem to be colluding without any evidence of doing so is to form our own groups. Speak with one voice, act together. They need us we are the customer and the customer is King/Queen. It has been done before with great success. Do you remember the Facebook and HSBC situation when some students forced HSBC to change its policy. Do you know it only took less than 6,000 people to threaten action for this to work.


This is a battle we did not start and in some ways we are all guilty of fanning the flames. The Government, bless it, appears to be trying to do something but I am not sure whether their publicity driven actions will have much effect. For us as consumers we are able to do something. Its simple and democratic. We do not want to destroy the banks really but we do have the power to do so. Apart from the occurrence mentioned above I am amazed that this has not been done yet.


If you would like to do something then please send an email to jonesandsmith31@hotmail.com. If enough people send an email then we can move forward. Do not worry I am not a bank. This is just a poll to see if there are enough people who would like to do something. I will not use the emails for anything except to measure interest, unless you state otherwise.

Over the Edge

I am just an ordinary person but having just seen the Panorama programme I have finally decided to do something. It is one thing just chatting to friends and complaining but it really is time to re balance the situation and more importantly the way we are treated in life.

Maybe I am at that age of life but I have been thinking about the economic imbalances in life and our world for several years now. I believe that because of the technological developments and especially the internet we are going through social and economic understandings and changes that we can not keep up with.

I do not want to waffle on in my first post but I think it is time to re-adjust the balance.

So lets start with banks. Topical? Maybe too much so.

What do you think? Try the poll and let us all see what you think.