Bank of Scotland owner Lloyds Banking Group is among half-a-dozen that have most recently fallen foul of UK regulators for failing to keep customers properly informed.
The rules overseen by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) dictate that banks must keep customers up-to-date on interest rates, overdraft charges, branch locations and so forth. This covers physical and online promotional materials.
Lloyds published incorrect service quality rankings about its personal and business current accounts in leaflets and branch posters. It also failed to keep correct information about interest rates on one of its overdrafts on a web page.
Barclays failed to keep timely information on interest rates for overdrafts on two of its web pages, while the Bank of Ireland listed incorrect details of branch locations as well as inaccurate information about some current account charges. HSBC failed to publish information about the maximum it can charge for overdrafts in all the places it should have done, and showed out-of-date information on interest rates for business account overdrafts on one web page.
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Metro Bank overcharged 92 customers for entering unarranged overdrafts. Royal Bank of Scotland owner NatWest did not update records following branch and ATM closures, and also listed incorrect interest rates for small business loans when sharing information with independent price comparison tools.
The CMA said all six banks have confirmed they are making operational changes to prevent future breaches. Metro Bank has also refunded the customers affected.
“We all have a right to expect up-to-date and correct information when making important decisions about our finances,” said Adam Land, senior director at the CMA.
“It’s therefore very disappointing that these six major banks have failed to uphold rules that have been in place for the last five years. We will remain vigilant to ensure the rules are followed.”
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