APS Bank reviews base rate

M.Degiorgio

Oct 19th 2008, 14:00

In Answer To A Camilleri.

Do Merlot Wine Suppliers make contracts for monthly supply of wine for 40 years with a price that they may alter whenever they want throughout those 40 years?

If the answer to the above question is YES you have just made an excellent point!!!

If the answer is no, I'm afraid that you have made a stupid remark.

Ruben Curmi

Oct 18th 2008, 11:02

APS Bank's claim to be "the bank you want us to be!"

I don't know who wants to bank with a bank that:

1. Promises the best interest rates on Home Loans and then fools people off by not adjusting its interest rates downwards in line with other banks....not reducing the interest by 0.2% means a lot for young couples which has hefty home loans to finance their apartments.

2. Whereas all leading banks are increasing and upgrading ATMs, APS bank has not installed ATMs at their branches in high population localities such as Birkirkara and Qormi. To add insult to injury the bank has recently removed several ATMs such as those in Hamrun, Marsalforn and Xlendi.

3. The bank has been promising its customers the introduction of certain basic critical services such as VISA credit cards for years but this promise has been dishonoured for years.

Given this scenario can anyone from APS explain why we shall continue banking with APS considering what other banks are offering in terms of lower interest rates, very efficient service & nation wide network of branches and ATMs

Peter Murray

Oct 18th 2008, 04:25

TO ALL CONCERNED:-

We possess an authority(MFSA) who purportedly are the regulatory body that monitors and scrutinises all actions of financial insitutions.Like me I advise that you ask them why these unaccountable elite (banks) can apparently act with impunity in such cases ,as well as inflicting terms and conditions( incl . charges and tariffs) all without any challenge ,rationalisation or justification .GET ON TO THE MFSA-and make your feelings known.

A Camilleri

Oct 17th 2008, 23:21

@ Simon Borg. The answer is yes, banks can set their own base rates. So, you may ask is it fair that they can charge any price they want and why should the rates differ from one bank to another. The answer to the first question is that there are at least 5 banks competing against each other. The answer to the second is similar to the answer to why is the price of of Merlot wines from different companies not identical?

M Vella

Oct 17th 2008, 12:48

Whenever base rates went up, APS Bank had no qualms in hitching up its loan rates by the same amount. And rightly so too. But for some obscure reason now that rates have gone down by 0.5% all over Europe, APS is only trimming 0.3% from its rates. Being a Church-run bank this is hardly evidence of Christian solidarity with those many loan holders who are already straining to keep up with today's costs. (And the Archbishop expects women to remain at home to take care of the family too !!)

Robert Abela

Oct 17th 2008, 11:29

@Simon

this has been a question for me for the last year or so. when i asked the bank i was told that its the 'bank policy' and no more. Loan contracts with banks are very complex and I believe that banks write them in a way to allow them be flexible without breaching such contracts

Simon Borg

Oct 17th 2008, 11:01

Why is it that this bank lowers its base rate so much later than all the other banks?
And why reduce it by 0.3% instead of 0.5% like the other banks?
Are the banks allowed to change their base rate to whatever they want?
Can they put it up to 20% tomorrow?
I'm quite ignorant about the subject but it doesn't seem fair to me.