Banking probe puts fees in spotlight

AN INDEPENDENT investigation into banking fees has been launched by the Economy Ministry.

According to Les Echos, the ministry has been keeping a very close eye on how much customers are charged after an EU report last year said some fees were unfair and others just nonsense.

Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has asked two banking experts to conduct further research and produce recommendations for improvements.

She has asked former Crédit Agricole director-general Georges Pauget and the president of the Bank of France financial sector advisory committee Emmanuel Constans to pay particular attention to overdraft fees and "packages" - where a flat monthly rate is charged to cover a series of banking operations.

Ms Lagarde said the investigation would not necessarily lead to tighter regulation, but was an exercise to "make sure that there are no abuses".

Last September, the EU said French banking fees lacked transparency and that information provided to customers was often incomplete or incomprehensible.

STORY: Banking charges just gobbledegook

Consumer watchdog CLCV also says there are large differences in the fees charged by banks for similar operations, such as paying in cheques, owning a debit card or transferring money.

The group found in February that the average fees bill had dropped by 5.31% compared with the same period last year.

However, the amount paid for banking services was up to three times higher for some accounts than others - with annual fees ranging from €41 to €131.

K.-U. Häßler - Fotolia.com