Banks 1, Consumers 0
It has been revealed that the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has today dropped its case against UK banks and the overdraft charges incurred by many UK banking customers. After a long battle with the UK banking industry it would appear that the Supreme Court ruling earlier this year has curtailed any chance of large-scale compensation for UK consumers caught up in the overdraft charges saga. So what next?
Unfortunately this is yet another win for the UK banking industry and another defeat for UK consumers, despite the fact the situation had looked so positive for consumers only a few weeks ago. There had been rumours that the Supreme Court was due to rule in favour of the OFT although for some reason there appeared to be a last-minute U-turn and the banks won the day again. While many customers have already received compensation from the banking industry, and this is unlikely to be reclaimed by the banks, those who were looking for a payday in the New Year will have to look elsewhere for additional funding.
The UK government has yet to comment on this particular case, and in many ways is unlikely to comment, but consumer groups and consumers around the UK are flabbergasted by the sudden collapse of what looked to be such a strong case.
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