85 per cent of Brits would rather their bank didn’t offer unauthorised overdrafts
Almost nine out of 10 UK adults would rather their bank did not offer unauthorised overdraft facilities, according to a new survey.
The survey, commissioned by digital current account provider Ffrees, asked 2,014 Britons about overdrafts, and found that 85 per cent would reject the opportunity to go overdrawn without previously agreeing to it.
Of those surveyed, 14.8 per cent said they had an account with no overdraft facility already, but excluding this group, 42 per cent of those surveyed said they would consider moving to a similar account.
It comes just after the Competition and Markets Authority targetted a sharp reduction in the amount of money banks make from overdraft fees.
At the launch of the CMA's report into the retail banking sector, investigation chair Alasdair Smith said that the watchdog would consider halving the £1.2bn that banks took from overdraft charges in 2014 “a good outcome”.
The CMA report also calls on banks to institute a maximum monthly charge for overdraft fees.
Alex Letts, chief unbanking officer at Ffrees, said: “The latest Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report recommends a cap on monthly overdraft fees and stronger warnings for people who are about to go into an unauthorised overdraft. Our results suggest this does not go far enough, with consumers simply wanting to see the back of unauthorised overdrafts."
Letts added: “With the CMA stating that their proposal alone would save overdraft users an average of £140 – and ‘heavy’ users £260 if they switched accounts to avoid the fees – we think there is even more room to protect consumers from these unfair practices.”