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Current account charges

Do you deal with customer complaints about current account charges? These could be complaints about overdraft fees, returned payments fees, monthly fees or payment and card usage fees.

This page covers the complaints we see about current account charges and how we approach them.

We have separate guidance about Packaged bank accounts.

On this page

  1. Complaints we deal with
  2. Rules, regulations and guidance on current account charges
  3. How we resolve complaints
  4. Business Support Hub

Got a complaint about current account charges?

See our guidance for consumers about bank accounts.

Complaints we deal with

We see complaints about current account charges from customers who:

  • believe charges were too high
  • think you shouldn’t have applied the charge
  • are upset by a sudden price increase or another change to the way you charge
  • are surprised or unhappy that you charged them for sending money, including sending money abroad
  • were unhappy to be charged for using their card abroad
  • are unhappy with the conversion rate you applied when they used their card abroad
  • were surprised or unhappy about charges for a replacement card, a duplicate set of statements, or some other unexpected administrative cost.

Rules, regulations and guidance on current account charges

When we look at complaints about current account charges, we use the regulatory and legal standards that applied at the time of the event the customer is complaining about.

You’ll find rules, guidance and good practice on current account charges, in:

You may also find it useful to refer to the FCA’s guidance on the Consumer Rights Act 2015.

A Supreme Court ruling in 2009 established that current account charges are part of the overall cost of providing services to all current account customers. You can read an explanation of this ruling in the Supreme Court’s press summary of Office of Fair Trading vs Abbey National plc & others 2009.

How we resolve complaints

We only look at complaints you've had an opportunity to deal with first. If the consumer is unhappy with your decision – or you don't respond to them within the time limits – they can come to us. 

Each case is different, but we’ll look at the facts and evidence from both you and your customer. What we consider will usually include:

  • relevant laws, rules and regulations, guidance, standards and codes of practice that were in place when the event happened, including the Consumer Duty
  • the terms and conditions of the current account
  • any other reasons behind the customer’s complaint, such as whether they:
    • are in financial difficulty or vulnerable
    • have concerns about how the account was sold to them
    • should not have been given an overdraft.

  • In 2009, the Supreme Court ruled that a current account charge cannot be challenged on the grounds it’s too high. So, we can’t consider a charge unfair simply because of cost.

    However, we will still look at the impact of charges on the customer. If your customer is experiencing financial difficulty, we’ll look at how you took this into consideration and tried to help them by, for example:

    • investigating what exactly the customer is finding difficult about the charges
    • anticipating their financial difficulty from what you see in their account – such as a sudden drop in income or increased reliance on overdrafts
    • contacting them to see if you can help them manage their finances
    • asking them to fill in an income and expenditure form – or to give you a financial statement – so you have a better understanding of their financial situation. 

  • If your customer is complaining simply because they object to the change in principle but it hasn’t affected them negatively, we’re unlikely to uphold their complaint. That is, as long as you haven’t breached any laws, regulations, codes of practice or terms and conditions.

    But we’ll want to know why you’re making the change to your charges and whether:

    • your customer could have reasonably expected the change to take place or found relevant information in the terms and conditions
    • you explained the charges clearly to your customer and gave them enough notice
    • you discussed other options with your customer, and they had a chance to say no to the change in charges
    • you considered how the change in charge affected the customer and, if so, whether you did anything to support customers who it would negatively affect.

    If a customer is experiencing financial difficulty, we’ll look at how you took this into consideration and tried to help them by, for example:

    • investigating exactly what the customer is finding difficult about the charges
    • noticing anything in their account activity to suggest they might be in financial difficulty, such as regularly occurring overdraft fees, a sudden decrease in income, or an increased reliance on an overdraft
    • contacting them to see if you can help them manage their finances through a period of financial difficulty
    • asking them to fill in an income and expenditure form or to give you a financial statement, so you have a better understanding of their financial situation.

We follow the FCA’s dispute resolution rules (DISP) and will take into account how you’ve tried to put things right.

If we uphold a consumer's complaint, we'll tell you what you need to do to put things right. We may also ask you to compensate them for any distress or inconvenience they’ve experienced as a result of the problem.

How we handle complaints

Business Support Hub

Businesses and consumer advisers can contact our Business Support Hub on 020 7964 1400 for information on how we might look at a particular complaint, or for guidance on our rules and how we work.

We also work with businesses and other organisations to help prevent complaints.

How we work with businesses