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Britain's banks are "ripping off" their customers, Business Secretary Vince Cable has told the BBC.
Mr Cable said forcing banks to change their practices would be a key test of the coalition government.
His comments come as research for Panorama reveals that high street banks surveyed are charging as much as 167% interest on unauthorised overdrafts.
Authorised overdrafts are charging an average of 32% interest, despite advertised rates of around 19%.
Fine print In response to the findings, Mr Cable said: "When we talk about restructuring the banks what's going to come out of this is a more competitive system where the customers are not ripped off."
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He said customers are paying the price for a lack of healthy competition in a banking marketplace dominated by a few big players.
"One of the negative side effects of this crisis is that our banking system that was already very concentrated is now even more concentrated so there's less competition, less choice and bigger temptation for banks to earn margins at the expense of their customers," he said.
Christine Ross, head of financial planning at SG Hambros which examined the true cost of overdrafts, urged consumers to read the fine print on their account details.
"What we found is that unless individuals really scrutinise the small print the overdraft rates charged are far higher than they could even imagine," she said.
Mr Cable also issued a renewed attack on the morality of the City over bonus payments: "I think the bonus culture which continues is unacceptable.
"The coalition agreement makes it very clear that unacceptable bonuses are continuing and that is something we want to try to stop and that reflects the lack of moral compass."
According to the Office of Fair Trading, in 2006, Britain's banks earned £2.6bn in profit from penalty charges.
'Very unfair'
BBC News - Vince Cable: Banks continue to rip customers off
Mr Cable said forcing banks to change their practices would be a key test of the coalition government.
His comments come as research for Panorama reveals that high street banks surveyed are charging as much as 167% interest on unauthorised overdrafts.
Authorised overdrafts are charging an average of 32% interest, despite advertised rates of around 19%.
Fine print In response to the findings, Mr Cable said: "When we talk about restructuring the banks what's going to come out of this is a more competitive system where the customers are not ripped off."
Continue reading the main story “Start Quote
I think the bonus culture which continues is unacceptable”
End Quote Vince Cable Business Secretary He said customers are paying the price for a lack of healthy competition in a banking marketplace dominated by a few big players.
"One of the negative side effects of this crisis is that our banking system that was already very concentrated is now even more concentrated so there's less competition, less choice and bigger temptation for banks to earn margins at the expense of their customers," he said.
Christine Ross, head of financial planning at SG Hambros which examined the true cost of overdrafts, urged consumers to read the fine print on their account details.
"What we found is that unless individuals really scrutinise the small print the overdraft rates charged are far higher than they could even imagine," she said.
Mr Cable also issued a renewed attack on the morality of the City over bonus payments: "I think the bonus culture which continues is unacceptable.
"The coalition agreement makes it very clear that unacceptable bonuses are continuing and that is something we want to try to stop and that reflects the lack of moral compass."
According to the Office of Fair Trading, in 2006, Britain's banks earned £2.6bn in profit from penalty charges.
'Very unfair'
BBC News - Vince Cable: Banks continue to rip customers off
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