Banker with balls

I recently visited South Africa. Wow! Do the banks nail their customers with fees! I'm so used to the "free checking account" advertising in America that it made me pause when I saw a billboard from ABSA promoting the fact it appears that when comparing apples with apples it is better to pay their multitude of smaller fees, than a single larger monthly fee. (I stand to be corrected as I passed it hurriedly on a highway.) The image a scale weighing three smaller apples with one large apple outweighing the small ones.

You even pay for the privilege to use the banks' websites! It's similar to the old oligopoly in Canadian banking only appears to be even worse for consumers in South Africa. Just of the heck of it, entertain yourself for 5 minutes to make sense out ABSA's pricing options (internet fees detailed on page 47 of 61) compared to that of FNB's 2008 pricing guide! If you work for a bank it may just inspire you with a range of ideas for charges you never believed consumers would actually agree to pay.

But despite the heavy handedness with fees, the South African banks do have some of the most innovative banking technology in place for consumers. Mobile banking is old hat. You can make near instant bank to bank transfers with no need to wait 1-3 days. For security you can get a temporary additional PIN sent via SMS to you and much more.

Posted by Banker with balls at 08:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

A few years ago, every 3 months or so, a letter would arrive from a realtor saying they had a buyer interested in buying a home in the neighborhood. Now we may consider moving - kind of. Enough so that I actually listed a "Make me move" price with Zillow - http://www.zillow.com/postings/MakeMeMove.htm

Now ING in the Netherlands launched a service called "Live where you want" that works the other way around - similar to those letters I used to receive from Realtors. If you can read Dutch, check it out over here: www.woonwaaruwilt.nl If you can’t read Dutch, this description will help a lot: http://www.springwise.com/homes_housing/bank_helps_clients_buy_homes_t/  A buyer can use the service to make an offer to buy a house from a property owner who does not have their property listed for sale.

Do you think there's a market to be created this way, an economy in matching people with an intent on buying or intent of selling at the right price? It could be a winner in a few specific property markets or certain high end segments. However, unless the property market is seriously restricted the majority of buyers will probably want to get a good deal and not pay an exorbitant premium to buy a home from a reluctant ‘seller’.