09 November 2007
As the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) gears up to reply to banks’ defence of their charging structures*, new research by Which? shows that banks which start to charge for current accounts will face a customer exodus.
Eight out of ten people (79 per cent) say they will consider switching to another provider if their bank introduces annual or monthly fees for their current account. Seven out of ten (73 per cent) believe it would be unfair for banks to charge any additional fees for a current account at the current levels of service they offer.
If banks were to introduce additional fees for current accounts, nine out of ten people (87 per cent) think the Government should intervene to ensure they are not excessive.
The research follows claims by some current account providers that they will have to start charging monthly or yearly fees if the courts rule that unauthorised overdraft charges are unfair.
Which? personal finance campaigner Doug Taylor says:
“This is a clear shot across the bows for the banks – consumers don’t want to be charged for their current account and will vote with their feet if their bank introduces a monthly or annual fee.
“Banks shouldn’t need to be forced to treat their customers fairly. Although our research shows that customers would support Government intervention to make sure banks don’t overcharge for current accounts, we would be very disappointed if it came to that.
“Banks only have themselves to blame for the damage that the overdraft charges saga has done to their reputation. Which? urges the banking sector to put its customers first.”
-Ends-
*The Office of Fair Trading’s (OFT) reply to the defendants’ defence in the bank charges test case is due on Friday November 9th.
1022 members of the public took part in an omnibus survey carried out between 5-9 September 2007. The survey was carried out with a sample representative of the population as a whole, using face to face interviews.
