:00:10. > :00:12.Hello and welcome to Your Money, your weekly guide to making
:00:13. > :00:15.the most of your cash ` enjoy it while stocks last!
:00:16. > :00:19.They're not doing a very good job, says the competition watchdog.
:00:20. > :00:21.But, could an investigation lead to fees for current accounts?
:00:22. > :00:32.And, how to get married without saying "I do" to a massive bill.
:00:33. > :00:36.Most of us don't pay a fee to have a current account at the bank.
:00:37. > :00:39.It's often called free banking, but it's isn't really ` between us,
:00:40. > :00:44.That means we don't know what our account actually costs us.
:00:45. > :00:47.And that might be one of the reasons that so few
:00:48. > :00:49.of us switch our bank accounts, even though many customers think we
:00:50. > :00:55.The competition watchdog has announced it wants to carry out
:00:56. > :01:01.a full investigation into the banks and into current accounts to find
:01:02. > :01:11.out why the service and product is so poor, and how to fix it.
:01:12. > :01:18.David Black joins us from a market research company. What is your take
:01:19. > :01:21.on this? The big fear among cut some consumer groups is if you have this
:01:22. > :01:27.investigation it will inevitably lead to the end of what we call free
:01:28. > :01:31.banking. There is a worry that that will happen. The basic belief that
:01:32. > :01:35.the competition markets authority has if there is not enough in
:01:36. > :01:39.banking. As you said, a lot of people think all accounts are the
:01:40. > :01:43.same, and not enough people switch. That said, there are some very
:01:44. > :01:48.generous offers around, and a lot more people could do extremely well
:01:49. > :01:50.financially by switching. And the argument is we don't switch because
:01:51. > :01:57.we don't really know what it costs. Yes. So, it it feels, in some minds,
:01:58. > :02:02.like not only will an investigation lead to the end of free banking, but
:02:03. > :02:05.it should lead to the end of free banking. It is probably too soon to
:02:06. > :02:09.judge that. It is one of the possibilities. If there is a full
:02:10. > :02:16.investigation, the most likely result is that the bigger banks will
:02:17. > :02:21.be forced to divest some customers. OK, though to force people to go to
:02:22. > :02:28.other banks, rather than voluntarily as a mug yes. But customers will
:02:29. > :02:32.think this is our money, we give it to the bank to look after it, the
:02:33. > :02:37.bank takes it and makes a profit on it, why should we pay them a fee for
:02:38. > :02:40.the privilege of making a profit on our money? If you look at just about
:02:41. > :02:45.every other country in the world, there is no such thing as free
:02:46. > :02:48.credit banking. Everyone pays fees. We are pretty unique in that
:02:49. > :02:52.respect, but we are used to it, so it will be a big shock when letters
:02:53. > :02:56.start hitting the doormats, if they do, saying you have now got to start
:02:57. > :03:05.paying for it. We already have current accounts that charged a fee.
:03:06. > :03:09.What do they cost? These are the package current accounts. An average
:03:10. > :03:15.monthly fee would be ?15. They offer you various incentives. But the main
:03:16. > :03:19.top`level incentives you get free travel insurance, free mobile phone
:03:20. > :03:24.insurance, and motor breakdown cover. There are a variety of other
:03:25. > :03:29.things as well. Interest`free overdrafts, that sort of thing. And
:03:30. > :03:31.they are often criticised for being bad value because they sometimes
:03:32. > :03:41.double up once insurance we have got already. And the cost of those per
:03:42. > :03:44.month? Typically ?15. But if everyone had to pay for a current
:03:45. > :03:48.account? I doubt it would be that high. There are various fee models
:03:49. > :03:52.they could use. It could be a monthly fee or a fee per
:03:53. > :03:56.transaction. Some will offer waivers or discount if you have other
:03:57. > :03:58.products with the bank. David Black, thank you for joining us.
:03:59. > :04:00.It's been a busy week for whip`cracking.
:04:01. > :04:03.The financial watchdog is going to cap the cost of payday loans.
:04:04. > :04:06.From January next year, borrowers will never have to repay more than
:04:07. > :04:11.The interest that's charged every day will be capped at 0.8%
:04:12. > :04:16.If you borrow ?100 and pay it back on time after 30 days, your interest
:04:17. > :04:21.Borrowers who are late paying money back will be charged a maximum of
:04:22. > :04:27.The total of all the interest and charges will be capped at 100% `
:04:28. > :04:40.we won't pay back more than twice the amount we borrowed.
:04:41. > :04:45.Three little nuggets of news, more details on the BBC website,
:04:46. > :04:49.complaints about the big energy firms have more than doubled. Most
:04:50. > :04:53.are about bills. Ofgem reminded people who rent their flat or house
:04:54. > :04:56.that they are allowed to switch supplier to save money, and the
:04:57. > :05:00.consumers Association said to double`check your child's car seat
:05:01. > :05:03.if it was fitted by people at the shop because many don't fit it
:05:04. > :05:07.properly. 42% of marriages end in divorce in
:05:08. > :05:10.England and Wales. Despite that, weddings are not going out of
:05:11. > :05:15.fashion. Another quarter of a million couples will walk down the
:05:16. > :05:19.aisle this year. Congratulations to all of them. But, if the odds are
:05:20. > :05:27.much better than 50`50, do you really have to spend ?20,000 on it?
:05:28. > :05:31.Tessa got engaged six months ago. She is now in the process of
:05:32. > :05:35.planning a perfect wedding. I have been dreaming of this day for a long
:05:36. > :05:40.time. But the challenge of staying within budget is proving hard. You
:05:41. > :05:43.have an idea in your head, but when you see something that is everything
:05:44. > :05:47.you have wanted, you don't want to look at the price tag. As she
:05:48. > :05:53.strives to create her perfect wedding day, she continues to be
:05:54. > :05:57.amazed at how expensive flowers and photographers are. When I call up
:05:58. > :06:02.people, I tend to have a figure in mind, and more often than not, it is
:06:03. > :06:07.more expensive than I had planned. It is definitely coming as a
:06:08. > :06:10.surprise, how much things cost. From the wedding dress and shoes, due to
:06:11. > :06:13.the smallest details such as headpieces and confetti, it seems
:06:14. > :06:20.the wedding premium continues to push budgets to the limit. The
:06:21. > :06:26.average wedding, venue and catering will take a big chunk out of your
:06:27. > :06:29.budget, costing on average ?9,500. Then there is flowers and
:06:30. > :06:34.entertainment, which will cost you ?1200 each. And then there is the
:06:35. > :06:40.all`important dress, Vail, shoes and the groom's suit. On average in the
:06:41. > :06:45.UK, that sex couples back ?1700. So, how much will it all come to when
:06:46. > :06:51.putting on your dream date quest like on average, ?21,000. Despite
:06:52. > :06:57.this staggering number, many couples can spend a lot more. So, why does
:06:58. > :07:00.it cost so much? There is far more work involved for wedding suppliers
:07:01. > :07:05.then there is for any other if end. Beforehand, more meetings, more
:07:06. > :07:09.changes of mind, perhaps, so to avoid the wedding premium, if you
:07:10. > :07:14.like, it is important for brides to take their entire budget at the
:07:15. > :07:19.beginning and leave 10% of that budget as contingency. It will
:07:20. > :07:24.probably be spent on be dress, but it will certainly be spent. Think
:07:25. > :07:28.about having fewer guests, and get married out of peak season, perhaps
:07:29. > :07:33.even November. Anna was one bright that opted for a November wedding. I
:07:34. > :07:37.would give anything to do the whole day all over again. She got married
:07:38. > :07:45.in Cornwall near the beach where she grew up. Her off`peak season wedding
:07:46. > :07:49.meant the venue was cheaper. My mum and I, we worked on the centrepiece
:07:50. > :07:55.pieces together. Friends helped in a lot of ways. A good friend of mind
:07:56. > :07:59.trained as a make`up artist, showed she did my make`up on the day.
:08:00. > :08:03.Another friend designed and printed the order of service for us. So,
:08:04. > :08:09.will Tessa be able to stay within her budget by the time the big day
:08:10. > :08:15.comes? I will try my best to stay within budget, but the dress will be
:08:16. > :08:19.hard to scrimp on. That's just hope the groom loves it as much as she
:08:20. > :08:24.does. I am sure they will both have a
:08:25. > :08:27.super day. That's all from us this week. You can keep up`to`date all
:08:28. > :08:38.week long with the money pages on the BBC News website.
:08:39. > :08:54.More again next week. Thank you for your company.
:08:55. > :09:00.Let's go backed to our top story this morning. The Ukrainian
:09:01. > :09:05.government has accused a Russian separatists at the crash site of the
:09:06. > :09:08.nation airliner MH17 of trying to destroy evidence. Officials in Kiev
:09:09. > :09:09.say rebels