Have you tried to move any money around lately? You think you own it, but you don’t: that’s the law. When you deposit money in a bank, you lend them the money: you become a creditor. It doesn’t say that in the glossy leaflets, but it’s a fact.

With most banks, you need special permission to send, transfer or withdraw more than £10,000 of it. They’ll charge you a fee for the privilege – and if you use another bank’s ATM, they’ll charge you from €5-50 fee.

Just to get your hands on your money….upon which – for the best part of twelve years now – they haven’t been giving you any interest.

So the bank gets your money free. In fact, it charges you for keeping your money safe – but when it screws up, there is no guarantee of safety at all. You will lose the lot if…