Rising Bank Penalties causes concern over Consumer Awareness
Customers of banks within the UK have seen a sharp rise in the amount they are paying out in penalties for accidental mistakes. The total figure over the past 12 months has risen to £650m paid in penalties, according to research conducted by finance management service, OnTrees.
Almost two million consumers have incurred fees ‘accidentally’, by making late payments or using an unauthorised overdraft within the past three months alone, a rise of 29pc compared to the previous three month period.
It is thought that within the UK 11 million people, some 25pc of the total population now rely on more than one bank for financial products and services, while three million have a credit card, current account or savings account with different companies. This could be causing confusion and leading to consumers being totally unaware of all of the financial commitments they have on their plate at one single time.
The most worrying statistic of all uncovered by OnTrees however is the fact that 27pc of all people surveyed cannot recall all of the providers they bank with.
This is especially worrying as it comes at a time when disposable income is low and people are struggling to save money on a monthly basis, so the fact that such a large amount of people are struggling to keep up with their own finances is certainly a cause for concern.
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