HSBC £25 Stealth Bank Charges
HSBC has been accused of imposing a stealth charge of £25 on patrons who go over their agreed overdraft limit.
The bank claims the charge is fair because it covers the time taken to review the customer’s account, but campaigners say it is a device to get round the rules on unfair penalty fees.
The charge is levied on clients who have gone over their authorised overdraft limit more than once in the prior six months.
The banks says the review - which This is Money belives takes no more than a couple of minutes - involves checking the customer’s ability to stay within their limit over the coming year.
Its introduction is part of the bank’s ‘fair fees’ policy, introduced in 2002.
Ben Green, 31, a picture editor from Norfolk, does not believe the charge is fair however and did not recognise it when it appeared on his account statement at the end of December, described as an ‘arrangement fee’. At first he thought it was an unauthorised overdraft charge and asked the bank if they could remove it.
However it declined, referring to it as a fixed annual charge for reviewing this 12-month overdraft agreement.
He said: ‘I contacted the bank about two months ago to ask them to increase my overdraft by £200 and they said there would be a £25 charge for this. I decided it wasn’t worth it and declined.
‘When the statement arrived, I didnt have a idea what the charge was for. I think I may have gone over my limit twice in the past six months, so maybe that’s why I was charged. The terms of my overdraft haven’t changed though so I don’t see why I should have to pay £25 for someone to have a quick look at my account and then allow me to use the same overdraft for an alternative year.’
While acknowledging HSBC has been one of the banks with the unsurpassed track record for repaying clients unfair charges, Marc Gander from the bank charges lobbying organisation Consumer Action Group said the £25 fee is a ’stealth charge’.