Banks face OFT charging review

However, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has disappointed some of those consumers facing debt management concerns by indicating the process will not be complete until towards the end of 2007.

Pricing and charging practices among British banks are seen as part of the reason behind the extent of the country’s debt management worries by some observers and a number of areas of concern were revealed by the OFT during an initial review.

Chief executive of the OFT John Fingleton remarked: “The issue of bank current account charges is a matter of real concern to the banks’ customers, and raises wider questions about competition and transparency of pricing.”

“A quick-fix solution is not the answer as this might be of limited long-term benefit and could have unintended and far-reaching consequences across the whole sector and on consumers as a whole,” he added.

The OFT has been established since 1973 and the organisation operates a non-ministerial department of government.