Dear Editor,

I have always been of the opinion that most banks are rapacious. I make no apology for this view however biased it may seem. It is the simple reality. These days if you happen to sneeze in a bank they find a way to service charge you.

Your article on GBTI’s huge 2008 profit figure (SN April 11) does not help to dispel that notion. I noted especially two figures. While banks traditionally make their money from interest this bank earned an additional, staggering $903M in fees (Editor’s note: The major component of this figure is the exchange gain of $663M). This was more than enough to cover all of their staff costs of a mere $617M!  Must be really nice to be able to pay your staff from a secondary source of income.

Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)