From:	XXXX
Sent:	December-04-13 4:13 PM
To:	Consumer Code / Code consommateur
Subject:	public consultation re banks

Dear Sir/Madam,
 
I strongly object to the banks charging a monthly fee for having a passbook. I have had an 
account with XXXX for several decades. If you kept a balance of $1,000 or more you 
did not get charged any fees, you got interest on the balance and your passbook updated for 
free. They stopped giving any interest on your balance years ago (without notice) and have 
started charging a fee of $2.25 per month to have a passbook about a year ago. We are 
encouraged to check our finances and banking information to protect us against fraud and 
identity theft but are now charged fees to access our information. This is unfair and 
unacceptable given the record profits of banks. The banks have become too powerful and 
consumers have little recourse. I do not do electronic banking as I am not convinced it is safe 
and there have been too many horror stories of lost or misplaced information. 
 
When drafting your new financial consumer code please stop the banks from charging 
passbook fees. This information is a necessity not an optional luxury. They should also have to 
give interest on account balances however modest as they never fail to charge high interest on 
modest amounts owing to them. I am happy to see a healthy and profitable banking sector but 
they should not be allowed to get greedy and overcharge consumers for every little thing they 
do. Unfortunately since they do not have an sense of restraint or fairness the government will 
need to regulate minutely to protect the average consumer.
 
Thank you for the opportunity to provide my input.

XXXX