LEE BOYCE: Banks should reward us for our loyalty every ten years

Sometimes, reading your letters really is a joy.

Long-time Money Mail reader Keith, 71, this week topped a cracking pile of post sent to our London office with a terrific idea that got me thinking.

You see, Keith and his wife, 76, have banked with First Direct for exactly 30 years this month.

That will make them among First Direct’s most loyal customers, as it was only set up by the old Midland Bank as a telephone banking service 34 years ago.

Forgotten savers: Banks typically only reward new customers with juicy perks. But what about loyalists who stick with their providers through thick and thin?

Yet, as Keith points out, banks such as First Direct typically only reward new customers with juicy perks. 

Usually it’s around £200 if you agree to switch your main current account (and the bribe does work: the last three months of last year were the busiest ever for the official switching service).

But what about loyalists like Keith who stick with their bank through thick and thin?

Here’s his pitch: ‘While we’re perfectly satisfied with the service it would be nice if banks offered a loyalty reward to customers like us. 

Not cash — a small gift: theatre tickets, gift voucher, bottle of wine, even a thank you would be appreciated.’

So, bank bosses — we know you read these pages! — here’s my challenge: how about offering customers a little something for every ten years of loyal custom?

A little giveaway to say: thanks for sticking with us despite easy cash on offer elsewhere.

As Keith points out, it’s an inexpensive idea for banks — but just the sort of gesture that might keep many of us coming back for another decade…

Parking pain

Why are councils making it so hard for people to park?

They’re stripping out machines that accept cards and coins and forcing people to pay with their phones. Some of the apps you have to use even charge you a fee for the privilege.

If you don’t have a phone, you’re stuffed. And even if you do, councils use different apps, different sign-ups and, depending on your network, you might not even have internet signal, let alone the all-too-common problem of a drained battery. 

Last summer, in a rural car park in Norfolk there were no machines to pay, just a sign with details of how to pay by app.

After fiddling around creating an account, the patchy mobile signal meant it took ages to finally get my £2 payment accepted.

While I was doing all this two other motorists asked me if I knew how to pay to park and, after hearing of my struggles, drove out of the car park, and out of the village — depriving local shops of their spending.

Councils need to re-think ripping out parking machines, or they may inadvertently end up ripping the heart out of entire town centres.

Cancel the delay

Those savvy bunch who haggle on their car insurance, home cover and broadband bill spend an average of 92 minutes on the phone in total, new data shows.

With bills heading higher, those 92 minutes are important to drive down the cost.

But these bloated calls feel entirely unnecessary. Recently, I had to switch my home cover away from Esure thanks to a huge renewal hike.

It was easy to log in online, speak to a chatbot who said I couldn’t get a cheaper price — but, to cancel the auto-renewal, there was no option but to call.

I was left on hold for more than ten minutes — which goes against Money Mail’s Pick Up Or Pay Up campaign, where we want firms to answer within that ten-minute period.

But while I finally managed to cancel and no renewal payment was taken, some haven’t been so lucky. 

A trickle of Money Mail readers say they have cancelled their renewal in good time with other providers over the phone, only for the payment to be taken out, effectively meaning they’ve paid for insurance twice — and then they have to call again to sort the problem.

Insurers must make it far easier and quicker to cancel policies, especially given the huge renewal quotes households face this year, or pay serious penalties.

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This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk