Personal Data Usage with Banks, Options

NewsMeQuick

Hi all,

An area that's been nagging me for a while is how banks use our data, particularly our purchasing data, combined with personal details e.g. gender, age, details of occupation.

Regarding ethical banking generally, from research, I know that in the UK, there is an abundance of Islamic banks, which as a base standard prohibit charging interest on loaned money as is Sharia law, and Islamic banks don't have big profits, the financial services they provide are made to connect society and make things work, not bleed people for profits.

Last year my bank said that it was 'closing down' a specific current account type which did affect me. The suggested alternative involves giving 'free banking' by simply using the account to an extent. That to me smells of possible data collection and selling of it.

I loathe data collection, particularly through deceptive means, where companies try to hide it. I'm hesitant to begin trawling through pages and pages and pages of legal cr*p written by solicitors - essentially to be interpreted really by other solicitors, not consumers, confusion and complexity being the weapon.

Does anyone know much in this area? How much banks use our data in Ireland? Are there any banks known here for having proper respect for personal data?

Organisations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Transparancy International do great research and scorecards on services but Ireland is always to small to be noticed so I haven't found anything.

How far can we really go with Apple Pay in Ireland? I'm very interested in Apple's anti-ads/tracking and commitment to privacy.