Banks. They pay you almost nothing in interest, but charge you huge amounts if you go overdrawn. They take every opportunity they can to try and sell you things, and charge you if you want a paper copy of your statement.
But, right now, you don't have to put up with it. Or, rather, if you do have to put up with it, there are a lot of benefits you can get to balance out some of the downsides.
Why? Well there's never been a better time to dump your existing bank and .
Right now, you can get - among other things:
Sadly not all from the same provider, but quite frequently top bank accounts have several of these features at once.
Fundamentally what you need to do is apply for a new account, get it, then relax.
In the last year 1.2million people changed bank accounts. That's up 200,000 people on the year before – and it could well be because of a new service.
The seven day switching guarantee was introduced 12 months ago. It promises that the whole process will be complete in – you guessed it – seven days.
So all your direct debits, standing orders and more are transferred from your old account to your new one, as well as updating anyone paying money in (such as your employer) with your new details as well.
If anything goes wrong, the rules now say you will be refunded any costs incurred – including fines or interest charged as a result of the new bank's mistake – to give you peace of mind.
To get access to it, you need to do no more than fill in a couple of forms.
So how much can you get by switching? Well are offering £150 to people opening one of their accounts. Halifax os offering £125, First Direct hands you £100 and M&S .
And that's just the up-front money.
If you're looking for cash on an ongoing basis, , every month. Nationwide and TSB pay 5% interest on in-credit balances up to £2,000 (or ), Lloyds pays 4% up to £5,000 and on any money you hold in the account.
This doesn't mean you can't switch account. Actually, it generally means you should DEFINITELY look at switching accounts.
Why? Because you can get or , while Yorkshire and Clydesdale Banks - less than half the amount charged y many others.
If you just dip into your overdraft, then , and Nationwide have accounts with an interest-free buffer. Letting you go up to £250 overdrawn before you're charged.
There are also good deals outside of straight cash incentives.
Nationwide offers , lets you use your card in Europe with no charges, Norwich & Peterborough offer free use abroad AND give you .
There are also perks while you spend – with M&S and Tesco give you loyalty points while you shop, Santander offers cashback on bills, NatWest and Lloyds offer cashback at selected stores and a whole host of them offer access to linked savings accounts, many with up to 6% interest for regular savers.
So, what's stopping you? .