2 March 2007
The National Consumer Council (NCC) has called for banks to provide clearer, more comprehensible information to their clients and to conduct themselves more transparently.
The campaign from the NCC comes in response to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) undertaking a consultation on personal current accounts and a climate of increasing criticism towards what are perceived as unfair charges being levied by banks.
In particular, the NCC calls for bank statements to contain more information to explain the circumstances under which charges and interest rates are applied.
Meanwhile, the watchdog body also recommends that the OFT scrutinises how costs arise from what is supposedly 'free banking' and how the costs and interest that are given up are distributed between different sections of account customers.
Ed Mayo, Chief Executive of the NCC, said: "Navigating through the current account jungle can be a real challenge. People are reluctant to switch because they are either worried about standing orders and direct debits not being paid, or feel that the process is too complicated.
"Those on low incomes or with limited banking experience are most likely to be adversely affected. For them a default charge of £39 is enough to push them into debt. It's time banks stopped pulling the wool over people's eyes and started behaving more responsibly."
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