A CONSUMER study of banking practices in the Nord Pas de Calais region of France has uncovered Ia segmentation bancaire or the classification of clients to whom the banks wish to target certain products.

According to DG XXIV the European Commission's consumer directorate some banks classify their clients as "goodies, basket eases, rogues, ants, leaking jars and fruitcakes".

Irish banks are less colourful with their boring AAA category (blue chip), AA (blueish chip) and A (unblue chip) but we cannot help wondering if secretly the Irish bankers don't in their hearts think along the same lines as their counterparts in the Pas de Calais.