Consumers urged to pay attention to new bank charges

Consumers are being urged to do their research in the light of new charges being levied by banks. The warning was voiced by price comparison website uSwitch.com after a number of banks reported that large proportions of their profits for 2006 were written off as people fell victim to insolvency. Nick White, director of financial services at uSwitch.com, said: "We shouldn't lose sight of how important banks are to the economy, but at the same time individual consumers need to be very aware of their own bank, their own products and any new charges being introduced." He added that consumers must try to be "on their guard" this year as banks continue to roll out new charges. One form of charging that has come under scrutiny recently is mortgage exit charges. Comparing banks' total profits with the amount they wrote off last year due to failed loan repayments, uSwitch.com found HSBC was top with 46 per cent of its profits written off. Lloyds and Barclays were second and third at 37 and 30 per cent respectively.