One way to strike back at banks that exploit at every opportunity is to keep changing bank accounts, taking the introductory offers like 0% for 6/9/12 months on credit cards and then at the end of the 6/9/12 months, go off to another.  There is after all plenty of competition; let's make the most of it.

Off topic, I know, but as others have talked about pensioners, here goes:  the real injustice is means testing, so beloved of Gordon Brown.  There are many people who have worked in low paid jobs, thriftily put money by for old age and found after retirement that it buys them a pension just big enough to disqualify them from benefits like pension credit and council tax benefit, etc.  Unless you can put so much money away that you will be way over the thresholds anyway, you may as well go to the pub, buy a new car every couple of years, enjoy foreign holidays and spend it while you can.  Or stuff the private pension scheme that takes so much in 'management' fees and ties your money up till retirement and instead put your spare dosh into buying property.