Following on about banking …
As I mentioned in passing in a post about banking, many UK bank customers are completely fed up with the banks charging for ‘unarranged borrowing’ - i.e., overdraft/overdrawing charges. I myself have been lucky to escape this, apparently, with that ‘international student bank account’ thing. Anyway, numerous customers are demanding refunds, and getting them, because the banks are apparently aware that they don’t have any legal legs to stand on.
The charging is apparently being investigated by the regulatory bodies (Office of Financial Trading, Financial Services Authority). A revealing article has appeared on the BBC News website which I think gives a good indication of how angry customers are getting.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6422961.stm
Later edit …
This link explains why the bank charging is effectively illegal, namely, the banks are overcharging for ‘administrative costs,’ therefore when customers threaten to sue, the banks back down and refund the money.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4940250.stm
