M.P's Debate Bank Charges

M.P's debated the issue of unlawful bank charges in Parliament last week. Matthew Taylor (Lib Dem), who brought the debate to highlight the £4.5 billion per year rip off, stated:

"Almost all of what is charged is profit, not costs. It is profit at the expense of hard-up customers. It is the biggest bank robbery in Britain, and it involves the banks robbing their own customers, especially their poorest ones."

Support for the call to limit bank charges also came from Jim McGovern (Lab), who raised the problem of multiple charges being made by banks for a single breach.

However, whilst the debate secured an admission of the problem from the Government (Ed Balls, Treasury Minister), the Government has no plans to force banks to refund the excess penalty fees levied on the back of either bank accounts or credit cards, leaving consumers with no other choice at the moment but to take individual cases through the courts.