Consumers Association requests investigation into BOV, HSBC bank charges

The Consumers Association has written to the Competition Office within the MCCAA to investigate bank charges recently imposed by BOV and HSBC.

This move comes after HSBC said that they will be committing to a €5 charge on personal banking accounts.

The association said that they received several complaints on these banks, largely due to increasing bank charges as well as operational procedures.

The investigation request was in response to these complaints. 

"This does not mean that only these banks increased their charges, as several other banks raised or introduced charges after these two banks announced that they would do so. We only mentioned BOV and HSBC because we believe that they have a 'dominant position' in this market and can therefore be investigated under the Competition Law," the association clarified.

In terms of operational procedures, the Consumer Association reached out to the MFSA. It mentioned how consumers are often only informed that conditions have changed, but are never told exactly what has changed and how.

"When charges are introduced or increased, consumers will not be informed in a timely manner on who will be affected and how they will be affected."

The association further pointed out that the information provided on such changes often contain technical or legal financial phrases, "terms that the vast majority of the public does not understand".

"The association believes that, in a pandemic, the government should help all economic sectors, including banks, if needed. It also believes that authorities should take steps that not only help increase activity and competition in the sector, but also to safeguard the human rights of consumers."