Banks raise account fees ahead of cap on overdraft charges

[Legal Beagles]

Millions of bank customers are being hit with higher current account fees ahead of a possible cap on overdraft charges. An estimated seven million people who bank with Lloyds TSB, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland have been told their monthly account fees will go up

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[Budgie]

Re: Banks raise account fees ahead of cap on overdraft charges

Hmmmmmm,

Should we be considering making recommendations to Members, especially those with stayed Court claims, or tjose just starting fresh claims about questioning or refusing to accept any proposed changes to terms and conditions until such time as the final judgments regarding these accounts are handed down in the Test Case. Is this another possible way to highlight the changing of terms and conditions that most of the banks undertook once the Test Case was actually announced. I am making this point just for general discussion purposes at the moment, but a general campaign disputing the right of the banks to amend terms and conditions or at least questioning any new changes they might be proposing to make might be beneficial to the cause.

Peoples thoughts would be welcomed.

Budgie

[Legal Beagles]

Seven million bank customers hit by rises of up to 20% in account fees

Millions of bank customers are being hit with higher current account fees ahead of a possible cap on overdraft charges. An estimated seven million people who bank with Lloyds TSB, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland have been told their monthly account fees will go up

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[Amethyst]

Re: Seven million bank customers hit by rises of up to 20% in account fees

Millions of bank customers are being hit with higher current account fees ahead of a possible cap on overdraft charges.
An estimated seven million people who bank with Lloyds TSB, NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland have been told their monthly account fees will go up.
They all use increasingly popular "packaged accounts" which offer extra services such as holiday insurance and credit card security plans on top of the basic current account.
The high street banks are encouraging customers to move to these fee-paying accounts and away from traditional "free banking".

About two million Lloyds TSB customers with Gold and Platinum accounts saw monthly fees rise by £2 to £12 and £17 respectively on May 1. The bank is the market leader in packaged accounts.
RBS and NatWest, which are part of the same group, are increasing charges by 95p on the Royalties and Advantage accounts. NatWest put its charges up on May 5, and RBS is to introduce the new fees from May 31.
NatWest customers with an Advantage Private account will see its monthly fee rise by £1.40 to £19.95.
The three banks and the other major high street names are considering whether to appeal against a High Court decision last month that could pave the way for a cap on unauthorized overdraft charges.
The court agreed with the Office of Fair Trading that the widely-resented charges are subject to laws that determine whether such fees are fair or not.
The OFT, which is investigating overdraft charges, is now expected to bring another High Court case that could make high charges of up to £39 a day illegal.

fter a similar investigation of credit card charges a £12 cap on fees was introduced. Some figures in the industry believe such a cap would make free banking for all uneconomic. David Black of Defaqto, the financial analyst, said: "The current account market is going through a lot of changes as a result of the OFT court case.
"If the conclusion is that these charges are too high, the OFT could seek to force banks to reduce them. If that's the case, banks have to look for other ways of making money."
The three banks have defended the increased fees, claiming they reflect an increased range of benefits.
They also said that customers cannot be forced to open the accounts. The Banking Code prohibits banks from transferring customers from free accounts to fee-paying accounts without their permission.
A Lloyds TSB official said: " Customers told us they would value additional benefits, and to cover the cost of these we have increased the cost of the Gold and Platinum accounts."
A NatWest official added: "The packaged accounts offer our best-ever potential savings for customers with the addition of new features, and this has been reflected in modest price rises."

[Legal Beagles]

Banks raise fees for current accounts

High street banks have put up fees for millions of current account customers after their High Court defeat over penalty fees for overdraft charges. Monthly fees for packaged accounts at Lloyds TSB, Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest will rise by up to 20 per cent this month.


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