Bank charges d-day announced

As the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) confirms that the judgment for the bank charges test will be handed down on Thursday 24 April, Which? personal finance campaigns manager, Doug Taylor, says:

“Thursday is a massive day for millions of consumers as well as the UK’s high street banks.

“If the judge finds in favour of the OFT then the banks should do the right thing and resolve their customers’ claims as quickly as possible. If they try to drag the process out any longer they will only be doing more damage to their reputations. Every second that passes is costing consumers £111*. In fact, by Sunday, the banks will have hit their customers with £1 billion in unauthorised overdraft charges since the test case began in January.”

- Ends - 

Notes to Editor

*Based on the OFT’s estimate that banks make up to £3.5 billion a year from unauthorised overdraft charges, the amount the banks have made since the start of the test case on January 14 at 10am will hit £1 billion just before 5pm on Sunday 27th April. This is the equivalent to £110.98 per second or £399,600 an hour. Go to www.which.co.uk/bankcharges to see the money continue to rack up.

> It is important to note that the test case will not decide whether overdraft charges are fair or not. The case is to establish whether the banks’ various terms and conditions (T&Cs) can be assessed for fairness by the OFT. If the court finds in favour of the OFT, the banks T&Cs will then be assessed for fairness. For a full media briefing on the possible outcomes of the test case please email adam.williams@which.co.uk

> Which? is the leading independent consumer champion in the UK, providing up to date, impartial, expert information on thousands of products and services to help make individuals as powerful as the organisations they have to deal with in their daily lives. To find out more visit www.which.co.uk

The FSA waiver, which has been in place since July, means that banks can continue to charge people for slipping into an unauthorised overdraft while consumer complaints remain on hold until the test case is concluded.