The Bank of Ireland, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Metro Bank, and NatWest have all broken banking rules imposed by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

Under the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order, banks and building societies must follow strict rules when informing customers of their services, including: showing correct interest rates for current accounts; using accurate promotional materials online and within branches; and accurately displaying the right locations and opening times.

“We all have a right to expect up to date and correct information when making important decisions about our finances,” said Adam Land, senior director, CMA. “It’s therefore very disappointing that these 6 major banks have failed to uphold rules that have been in place for the last 5 years.

“Customers have been let down, some of whom will receive refunds, so these high street names must get their act together.

“We will remain vigilant to ensure the rules are followed.”

The CMA revealed that Barclays had failed to keep information on interest rates up to date for overdrafts on two of its webpages.

The Bank of Ireland listed incorrect details of branch locations through Open Banking - after some had permanently closed - as well as wrong information about some current account charges. Tablet users were also not provided with a link to information on Bank of Ireland’s service quality via the banking app.

HSBC failed to publish information about the maximum amount it can charge customers for overdrafts in all the places it should have done. It also showed out of date information relating to interest rates for their business account overdrafts on one of its webpages

Lloyds Banking Group publishing incorrect service quality rankings relating to personal and business current accounts in leaflets and branch posters which gave potential customers a misleading impression of its performance; and failing to keep information in relation to interest rates up to date for one of its overdrafts on one of its webpages

Metro Bank overcharged 92 customers for entering an unarranged overdraft.

NatWest did not update records following branch and ATM closures. It also listed incorrect interest rates for small business loans when sharing information with independent price comparison tools.

All six banks have said they are making changes to their operations to avoid future breaches, including: destroying out of date promotional materials; updating internal checklists; and retraining staff.

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