Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable, has welcomed the High Court ruling against UK banks over unauthorised overdraft charges.
“This is great news. However, it is only the first step in what will be a very long journey. In case after case brought against the banks by angry customers, they have been unable to show that their penalty charges bear any relationship to the costs they incur.
“The massive penalty charges imposed are yet another example of the major banks taking consumers for a ride. The people hit by these charges are often those least able to afford them. Many overstretched families have found their own banks pushing them further into debt.
“The banks can receive unrivalled guarantees and support from taxpayers when things go wrong, but continue to make huge profits at the expense of their customers. These charges are just further evidence that as the Cruickshank report showed eight years ago, the UK banking industry simply isn’t competitive,” says Cable.