It’s time to bash the banks again (what seems to be a hobby for the people of the United Kingdom) as the beedy eye of the regulator casts it’s view over the dreaded “Forgien Exchange”
Consumer Focus UK has forwarded a “Super-Complaint” for the Office of Fair Trading to consult on.
Of course the banking industry is full of disgust being the whipping boy of the United Kingdom, and states it’s “Disappointed” it didn’t come to the Banking Industry first.
Why is it disappointed? So it had time type out a quick press release justifying itself? So that all the banks sing from the same hymn sheet when it comes to the press nosying around?
Anyhoo.
Consumer Focus claims that “converting £500 into euros could cost between £10 and £30, even though the service provided was essentially the same.”
Which lets face it, unless there’s buyback or a good deal, is correct.
Consumer Focus has also complained about fees for Card usage (Both Debit and Credit Card) abroad, including:
Complex card charges that prevent holidaymakers shopping around for a better deal
Charges for buying currency in the UK with a card failing to reflect the costs of processing the payment
Hidden mark-ups that make marketing phrases such as “0% commission” misleading
Rather than clamp down on these costs, Consumer Focus is asking the Office of Fair Trading to see if consumers are being treated fairly, and for simplification for the public.
Charges do vary, be it paying with a Credit Card from one company, paying with a Debit Card from another, to getting cash over the counter
Naturally, the banks are disappointed they were not consulted before the compliant was fired off, and bleats:
“Competition in the holiday money market is not simply between High Street banks; it also involves companies which do not usually provide financial services,”
“The report acknowledges only 15% of holidaymakers get their foreign currency from a bank.
“Any analysis of this market needs to take full account of the costs to businesses of providing these services – for instance, the cost charged by foreign ATM providers every time a UK card is used.
“Transaction costs abroad are driven by the costs of overseas payment systems, often in countries where free banking does not exist.”
So what’s going to happen? Well the OFT is going to examine this for 90 days carefully and the annoucne what it wants to do
However, for a sample pot, here are the charges I face:
- The Co-operative Bank (Debit and Credit Card) Debit Card and one of my credit cards have a load of 2.75%.
- MBNA Credit Card has a load of 2.99%.
- American Express kept the two charges separate and a load of 2.99% (but out of all the above actually shows you what you’ve been charged as !)
It all adds up, especially with the larger transactions. There are better options out there (such as The Halifax Clarity), but these have to be viewed with your personal fiscal circumstances (as well as your dreaded credit score)
This should be interesting – least of all the banks I sure will enjoy another pasting as the bogey man of the UK.
