Avoid unauthorised borrowing
Published On 18 January 2007
Consumers should be wary of getting into debt by getting into an unauthorised borrowing situation, according to one leading high street bank.NatWest has urged consumers to contact their bank in advance to agree the overdraft limit rather than facing punitive charges for unauthorised overspending.
Group spokesman, Ronan Kelleher, explained: "There really is no need for a customer to get into an unauthorised borrowing situation.
"We encourage customers to contact us to agree any borrowing in advance and we make arranging an overdraft facility simple, straightforward and free."
Customers can organise an extension to their overdraft online, over the phone or face-to-face, he added.
Separate research from uSwitch has discovered that banks gained over £600 million from consumers by pushing up credit card and overdraft rates. Overdraft interest rates rose from 13.8 per cent to 15.1 per cent on average during 2006.
