Bank charges simply "money-spinners"

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Bank charges on unauthorised overdrafts have been labelled as nothing more than a "money-spinner" in a campaign launched by Which?

The consumer watchdog has issued banks with anti-social banking orders and has set up a campaign for people to attempt to win their money back.

According to Doug Taylor, personal finance campaigner at Which?, in 2004 consumers paid a total of £3 billion in charges for going over their agreed overdraft limit.

"We think charges should be fair and reflect the costs involved," said Mr Taylor.

"They should not be, as they are now, an arbitrary figure picked to make the most money out of unsuspecting customers."

However, Ian Mullen, chief executive of the British Bankers Association, said in response to the campaign that "international research shows that UK banks provide extremely good value for customers".

Mr Mullen drew attention to the fact that, unlike some other countries, UK customers benefit from a number of free services, including free banking, free access to ATMs and free telephone banking.

As well as launching the campaign, Which? has written to the Financial Services Authority "to investigate whether the banking sector is acting unfairly".



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