Another day, another story about bank penalty charges...
Are you aware of the huge differences between the unauthorised overdraft charges levied by UK banks?
No? Well you should be!
New research from comparison site Moneysupermarket.com has found that the cost of you going £60 overdrawn can vary from £25 to £133, depending on which bank your account is with!
They branded the structure of UK bank charges as lacking "consistency" and being "unjust".
Moneysupermarket.com looked at the charges levied by the main UK High Street banks and the Nationwide building society for exceeding an authorised overdraft limit by £60 through bouncing 3 cheques in the space of a month.
They found massive differences in the charges that were applied!
For example, HSBC will charge you just £25 while Halifax, Alliance & Leicester and NatWest all imposed fees of over £100; yes £100!!
In total, the difference between the highest (NatWest) and lowest (HSBC) was £108.
Kevin Mountford, head of savings at Moneysupermarket.com, said "The wide variation between penalty charges shows there is no consistency across the board and I wonder how the banks can justify the differences we have uncovered. It is clear several banks are playing an unjust game" he added.
As a response, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) pointed out that customers could avoid fees altogether simply by staying in credit.
"The UK is one of the very few countries where you can get free banking simply by keeping your account in credit or within an agreed overdraft limit," a BBA spokesman said.
"In most other countries people pay for all their banking services including everyday transactions that here we take for granted," he added.
So if you are wondering what your bank is charging you for going overdrawn, take a look at the figures below:
- HSBC £25
- Nationwide BS £84.50
- Barclays £90
- Lloyds TSB £90
- Halifax £118
- Alliance & Leicester £125
- NatWest £133
(
Source: Moneysupermarket.com)
So as you can see, going overdrawn can be a really costly exercise!
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