Most consumers do not want to pay fees on current accounts

According to the results of a recent survey the majority of consumers in the UK do not wish to pay account charges for their current accounts even if this means that there will not longer be costly fees imposed for exceeding the overdraft limit, bounced cheques, and returned direct debits.

Many officials have predicted that of the banks lose the final stage of the bank charges test case and are forced to dramatically cut or abolish these fees they will start charging customers a monthly fee for their current accounts, effectively putting an end to free banking. However, most customers would not be happy with this system.

In a recent survey around 58% of consumers said they would not be happy to accept monthly charges even if the outcome was a reduction or the abolition of the current bank charge system.

Many consumers feel like they are being penalised because of those that do incur these charges, as any monthly account charges will affect all customers and not just those that exceed their limit.

The banks recently lost the first stage of the proceedings, and one official said: ‘The recent announcement provoked a huge amount of excitement, yet it’s worth bearing in mind that this legal battle is far from over. We still have to wait for a further hearing – which might not be until next year – before it is decided by the court whether or not the charges are unfair.’