Should I be looking for a new Bank?

[markbanang]

After 25 years with HSBC, I'm starting to wonder if I should switch my current account to another bank.

I started wondering a while ago, but as with most people, inertia got the better of me.

What has me wondering again today is reading some of the new terms and conditions coming into force on my account in November. In particular:

• never access PIB [Personal Internet Banking] from any computer connected to a local area network (LAN) (this is usually the case for computers you use at work) or any public internet access device or access point (e.g., at an internet café) without first making sure that no one else will be able to observe or copy your access or get access to PIB by pretending to be you;

How on early can your average user do this? This sounds like the bank is trying to absolve themselves the responsibility for dealing with the threat of man-in-the-middle attacks. How far will these terms allow them to take this?

Then we have:

• We may change the structure of the interest rates we apply from more general “product” interest rates to different interest rates for different customers based on an allocation of the risks and costs of borrowing between different customers. This means that we may change the interest rate that applies to your account based on our assessment of your ability to meet your financial commitments and it may be different to interest rates that other customers with your account have.

So, if you lose your job, expect your interest rates to go up. Talk about kicking a customer when they're down.

So what I have to ask myself is whether the Devil I know is better than the Devil I don't. Are other banks making these sorts of changes? Did they make them long ago? Are any banks out there doing what's best for their customers, or just what's best for their shareholders?

I don't know, and I'm not sure I have the patience to do the research needed to find out. I just have an uneasy feeling that we're being screwed over again, and there's little we can do about it.