Banks promise to explain charges

Banks are promising to make their charges clearer from January next year.

Studies have shown combined fees can cost three times as much per year depending on which bank you choose; however, confusingly presented information makes it hard to work out which is best.

The banks have agreed new tariff brochures will feature a prominent price list for 10 key services, to show at a glance how they compare.

They have also agreed to standardise terminology and have pledged that, from the end of June, monthly statements will show total charges applied in the previous month.

The changes come after complaints French charges are too numerous, too confusing and too high. Consumer group UFC-Que Choisir said the average brochure is 24 pages long and features more than 300 fees. A 2009 EC study found that the French banks’ fees were among the highest and least comprehensible.

The commission said France was the fourth most expensive country for an average bank user, at just over €150 a year compared to around €75 in the UK (the cheapest was the Netherlands, under €50; most expensive Italy, nearly €300).

For “simplicity”, French charges scored four out of 10, putting France among the five worst in the EU (the UK scored 7/10 and was considered “above average”), while for “transparency” it was among the bottom seven.

A comparison of French bank charges reveals wide differences, but it can be hard to compare like with like because there is no standard and high street banks’ charges can vary by region.

Consumer rights body CLCV, which teamed up with leading financial magazine magazine Mieux Vivre Votre Argent in a study of 132 banks found charges for a typical “active couple” with a joint account varied from €158.70 at the Crédit Agricole Nord-Est to €296.50 at the Banque Populaire Centre Atlantique, with the average overall being €226.12.

For a “small consumer”, differences were even wider, from €41 to €131.66 at the same banks, with an average of e68.64. In this category the study found it was best to go for “à la carte” services as opposed to “service packs” (a flat-rate monthly fee amalgamating some typical services).

A study done in March on a basket of 13 typical services by a leading French information website, www.linternaute.com, found on average internet bank ING Direct had the lowest charges of all (€76 for the basket, combined), followed by another internet bank, Boursorama Banque (€241.97), then La Banque Postale (€249.42). The highest were at Le Crédit du Nord (€356).