19/07/2014 Your Money

Hello and welcome to Your Money, your weekly guide to making

the most of your cash ` enjoy it while stocks last!

They're not doing a very good job, says the competition watchdog.

But, could an investigation lead to fees for current accounts?

And, how to get married without saying "I do" to a massive bill.

Most of us don't pay a fee to have a current account at the bank.

It's often called free banking, but it's isn't really ` between us,

That means we don't know what our account actually costs us.

And that might be one of the reasons that so few

of us switch our bank accounts, even though many customers think we

The competition watchdog has announced it wants to carry out

a full investigation into the banks and into current accounts to find

out why the service and product is so poor, and how to fix it.

David Black joins us from a market research company. What is your take

on this? The big fear among cut some consumer groups is if you have this

investigation it will inevitably lead to the end of what we call free

banking. There is a worry that that will happen. The basic belief that

the competition markets authority has if there is not enough in

banking. As you said, a lot of people think all accounts are the

same, and not enough people switch. That said, there are some very

generous offers around, and a lot more people could do extremely well

financially by switching. And the argument is we don't switch because

we don't really know what it costs. Yes. So, it it feels, in some minds,

like not only will an investigation lead to the end of free banking, but

it should lead to the end of free banking. It is probably too soon to

judge that. It is one of the possibilities. If there is a full

investigation, the most likely result is that the bigger banks will

be forced to divest some customers. OK, though to force people to go to

other banks, rather than voluntarily as a mug yes. But customers will

think this is our money, we give it to the bank to look after it, the

bank takes it and makes a profit on it, why should we pay them a fee for

the privilege of making a profit on our money? If you look at just about

every other country in the world, there is no such thing as free

credit banking. Everyone pays fees. We are pretty unique in that

respect, but we are used to it, so it will be a big shock when letters

start hitting the doormats, if they do, saying you have now got to start

paying for it. We already have current accounts that charged a fee.

What do they cost? These are the package current accounts. An average

monthly fee would be ?15. They offer you various incentives. But the main

top`level incentives you get free travel insurance, free mobile phone

insurance, and motor breakdown cover. There are a variety of other

things as well. Interest`free overdrafts, that sort of thing. And

they are often criticised for being bad value because they sometimes

double up once insurance we have got already. And the cost of those per

month? Typically ?15. But if everyone had to pay for a current

account? I doubt it would be that high. There are various fee models

they could use. It could be a monthly fee or a fee per

transaction. Some will offer waivers or discount if you have other

products with the bank. David Black, thank you for joining us.

It's been a busy week for whip`cracking.

The financial watchdog is going to cap the cost of payday loans.

From January next year, borrowers will never have to repay more than

The interest that's charged every day will be capped at 0.8%

If you borrow ?100 and pay it back on time after 30 days, your interest

Borrowers who are late paying money back will be charged a maximum of

The total of all the interest and charges will be capped at 100% `

we won't pay back more than twice the amount we borrowed.

Three little nuggets of news, more details on the BBC website,

complaints about the big energy firms have more than doubled. Most

are about bills. Ofgem reminded people who rent their flat or house

that they are allowed to switch supplier to save money, and the

consumers Association said to double`check your child's car seat

if it was fitted by people at the shop because many don't fit it

properly. 42% of marriages end in divorce in

England and Wales. Despite that, weddings are not going out of

fashion. Another quarter of a million couples will walk down the

aisle this year. Congratulations to all of them. But, if the odds are

much better than 50`50, do you really have to spend ?20,000 on it?

Tessa got engaged six months ago. She is now in the process of

planning a perfect wedding. I have been dreaming of this day for a long

time. But the challenge of staying within budget is proving hard. You

have an idea in your head, but when you see something that is everything

you have wanted, you don't want to look at the price tag. As she

strives to create her perfect wedding day, she continues to be

amazed at how expensive flowers and photographers are. When I call up

people, I tend to have a figure in mind, and more often than not, it is

more expensive than I had planned. It is definitely coming as a

surprise, how much things cost. From the wedding dress and shoes, due to

the smallest details such as headpieces and confetti, it seems

the wedding premium continues to push budgets to the limit. The

average wedding, venue and catering will take a big chunk out of your

budget, costing on average ?9,500. Then there is flowers and

entertainment, which will cost you ?1200 each. And then there is the

all`important dress, Vail, shoes and the groom's suit. On average in the

UK, that sex couples back ?1700. So, how much will it all come to when

putting on your dream date quest like on average, ?21,000. Despite

this staggering number, many couples can spend a lot more. So, why does

it cost so much? There is far more work involved for wedding suppliers

then there is for any other if end. Beforehand, more meetings, more

changes of mind, perhaps, so to avoid the wedding premium, if you

like, it is important for brides to take their entire budget at the

beginning and leave 10% of that budget as contingency. It will

probably be spent on be dress, but it will certainly be spent. Think

about having fewer guests, and get married out of peak season, perhaps

even November. Anna was one bright that opted for a November wedding. I

would give anything to do the whole day all over again. She got married

in Cornwall near the beach where she grew up. Her off`peak season wedding

meant the venue was cheaper. My mum and I, we worked on the centrepiece

pieces together. Friends helped in a lot of ways. A good friend of mind

trained as a make`up artist, showed she did my make`up on the day.

Another friend designed and printed the order of service for us. So,

will Tessa be able to stay within her budget by the time the big day

comes? I will try my best to stay within budget, but the dress will be

hard to scrimp on. That's just hope the groom loves it as much as she

does. I am sure they will both have a

super day. That's all from us this week. You can keep up`to`date all

week long with the money pages on the BBC News website.

More again next week. Thank you for your company.

Let's go backed to our top story this morning. The Ukrainian

government has accused a Russian separatists at the crash site of the

nation airliner MH17 of trying to destroy evidence. Officials in Kiev

say rebels