[darwinist]

Bamking Debate.

As an European, under the Maastrickt treaty. I am entitled to work and live in any of the European countries. I am British, but currently living with the Netherlands.

It is my opion that a Basic current/checking account. Should be a basic civil right. That anyone is able to get an account.

This is not the case. It is possible for any bank to refuse an account. On the basis that it is not profitable for them to do so.

So should an bank account be a basic civil right?

If you have time please read the following:

Financial citizenship -- A wider responsibility

Banks in particular are not only commercial enterprises. They occupy a special position in the financial system and the tight financial coupling of one bank to another makes them collectively vulnerable to 'systemic risk'. In considering risk banks therefore have a responsibility not merely for the internal cost of potential failure to their customers and employees but in a wider sense for the external cost to the economy.

Their special 'systemic' position also gives banks and other institutions a responsibility for the consequences of 'market failure' within our own society. We believe that financial exclusion should be viewed from this perspective. It is much more than a consequence of poverty among certain individuals. It is a real failure of the market to provide whole communities with the basic equipment of modern life. Basic financial services are becoming as necessary as water and electricity. This may be an exaggeration but it indicates their special role.

# Choice and exclusion

Most suppliers of goods and services are happy to provide for anyone who chooses to buy from them. Pubs sometimes chuck out undesirables but most shops and manufacturers are not so choosy. In this situation customers are free to choose between competing suppliers and somebody will usually supply a Mini for anyone who can't afford a Rolls Royce.

The difference with banks and insurance companies is that some customers are likely to be unprofitable. These institutions increase their profits not by maximising their customer base but by optimising it, picking off the most profitable customers and rejecting the rest. The result is that that although they compete for the custom of the wealthy customers, for the poorer ones it works the other way round; the customers are competing for the favours of the banks. Exclusion is therefore not merely a matter of poverty or cultural resistance or lack of education; it is a positive mechanism of rejection. As the Office of Fair Trading points out:

"It is often claimed that those who fail to take up even the most basic of financial services have done so out of choice. My scepticism of such claims has been confirmed by the analysis and research in this report. The take-up of bank current accounts, household insurance and short-term credit is inconsistent with the exercise of any meaningful choice."

(John S Bridgeman, Director General of Fair Trading)

Conclusion

For people who are excluded from the economic life of the community, active citizenship is not just the goal; it is the road back to participation and inclusion. Public administration must acknowledge this linkage in order that it can work to bring together the seemingly disparate worlds of commerce and community.