I came across this website ( http://www.moneytools.ca ) while doing my daily read at http://www.milliondollarjourney.com. It is an online guide to bank fees created by the Canadian Government. It provides you with the “tools you need to help you shop around for bank accounts, credit cards and other financial products from the comfort of your home.” The site allows you to search for the best product based on: location, minimum balance, age, number of transactions a month etc...
Although the site could be useful for some people I don’t like the fact that the government has gone ahead and wasted time and money on the construction of it (if an individual or business created it then hey no problem). In my opinion it’s really none of the governments business. I think that consumers are smart enough to shop around on their own (and if not then the dumb ones can pay a higher fee and raise the EPS of my bank stocks). Part of my problem with the government poking its’ nose into bank fees has to do with the fact that bank fees really aren’t that high (I bank at a big bank and pay $0 a year in fees). Why is the government wasting time and resources in an effort to save Canadians a few dollars a month at best? Additionally, the type of people who are going to be visiting the site are mainly going to be financially savvy people like you and me who probably don’t pay many fees anyways. Those who pay extravagantly high bank fees probably won’t use the site, because if they’ve been dumb enough to pay high fees up to now and haven’t done anything about it why is this website going to make a difference?
Since when is the government in the business of being a comparison shopper for consumers anyways? What’s next? Restaurants? Hotels? Groceries? Actually, I think that a grocery comparison website would save the average Canadian far more money each year than the bank fee website (I converted a friend from A&P to No-Frills and he now saves about $30 a week in groceries --- for him that’s about 3 years worth of bank fees saved each week). Anyways...my point is the government should stick to governing (defense, infrastructure, health, education) and leave the rest up to the market.
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
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4 comments:
MCM
That's a great topic!
It is an important question: Where should the government draw the line?
I guess it is where the public thinks...no that's going too far!
mmmm...Was this a political decision, or one made by a government employee? Is there a way to find out? What was the rationale?
I think they are just trying to reduce their guilt feeling. Canada is perhaps the least competitive banking market in the world and they just don't want to allow any meaningful competition in banking. Hence this lip service to consumer interest.
I believe there is a role for neutral comparative information on financial products by a credible source (whether the government meets that test ... ;-). It can be a huge time-saver. Here - http://www.fsa.gov.uk/tables - is what I found to be a good model for doing it right by the UK regulator, the Financial Services Authority. The tables cover bank accounts, mortgages, ISAs (RRSP-like accounts), annuities and pensions. Mind you, as a previous comment noted, Canada's financial markets are quite uncompetitive compared to others like the UK and the amount of choice is so limited that the benefit is much less. As they say over here, cheers.
Like most of us in the middle class, your rant is sparked by a well-meaning but misguided perception, fanned by the winds of righteous indignation, and largely inconsequential.
Sounds like me on a Saturday night.
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