Ten things your bank won’t tell you

When I first started investing, people had a personal relationship with their bank managers. But things have changed significantly over the last few decades.

The fact is when you go into a bank, you are on your own when it comes to your own financial interests.

Everyone may be friendly and eager to help when you walk in the door, but the bank is a business, and it exists to make a profit.

That means that your bank wants to make money out of you.

This doesn’t mean bankers are not trustworthy or honest people. It’s just that they work for large corporations and their role is to sell you products offered by their employers which may or may not be the best financial solution for you.

So here are 10 things your banker probably won’t tell you.

They can only offer you limited options

Obviously, they won’t tell you about loan products offered by other banks which may suit you better.

Bankers are sales people

They are incentivised to “sell” you a specific solution including credit cards and insurance. The more products or services they get you to “buy” the more money the bank makes. Sure, finance brokers also get paid by the banks for the services they offer, but this income must be declared.

There are three doors into the bank

The front door where most retail (mum and dad clients) enter.

The business branch available to larger accounts – the bankers here are more investment and business savvy and…

The institutional branch – where the ‘big boys’ go.

Mortgage rates are negotiable

If you ask them, they can usually give you a better deal, because the bank would rather drop the interest rate a little than lose your business.

An offset account can be better than a term deposit

Putting your spare cash into an offset account is effectively earning you the interest rate on your mortgage, and therefore makes you more money than a savings account or term deposits.

Bank fees are a big money maker

It’s unlikely your banker will tell you that fees are amongst the biggest money maker for the banks. Nor will they tell you…

Some fees can be waived

You bank won’t tell you this, but sometimes certain fees can be waived, just because you asked.

They are not financial advisers

Some borrowers assume bank employees are trained to help them make financial decisions, but that’s not the case.

The ‘system’ will decide on your loan application

Many people think that their bank manager or the loans officer will decide, but in reality ‘the system’ will assess your loan application. All your information will be fed into a computer and your application is reduced to a number.

You should shop around for the best loans or financial products

Many people just go to their bank for loans and other financial products. It seems easier and more convenient to keep their financial accounts with one bank and they assume that, because they have been loyal customers, they will get a good deal. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.

These are some of the reasons I suggest you work with a proficient finance broker to balance the playing field.

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