Personal finance advice, the FD way
My recent post on one finance director’s domestic money management skills has elicited a number of off-blog responses.
You might recall that after his wife was told by Citibank that her credit card would not be replaced after it expired because she was, inter alia, no longer ‘eligible for credit from Citi Cards', he wrote that it was she who was in fact no longer prepared to enter into a financial business arrangement with the bank.
Among a number of reasons given was its ‘flawed’ business plan, ‘wildly optimistic’ valuation of sub prime exposure and ‘evidence of reckless and uninformed use of shareholder’s funds’.
The letter demanded the refund of his wife’s £4 credit balance.
Well, the debate has moved on.
Now she has received another letter from CitiCards offering her a Citi Platinum MasterCard. A classic case of blanket marketing that gives the appearance that the bank’s left hand knows not what its right is doing.
The caustic reply to this follow-up adopts a similar tone:
'Citibank has proven itself to be financially irresponsible on a huge scale, and I would not like my reputation to be tarnished by association. If you cannot afford to repay the £4 you owe me, I shall write it off as a bad debt, grateful that it is not $18.1 billion.'
Good knock-about stuff, I'm sure you'll agree. Now it seems this FD is not alone in taking such a principled stance.
Another former FD and chief executive tells me how he was left fuming as he neared the end of his mortgage recently, normally a cause for celebration.
His bank wants £750 to return the deeds to his house. His preferred solution is different.
Keep charging him 1p a month to keep the mortgage going indefinitely. And the bank can keep the deeds.
If any other finance directors have grievances about their personal finances I'm happy to air them publicly. Just as long as they are entertaining.
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