Online bank fined over insurance mis-selling

Online bank Egg was fined £721,000 (€825,000) by British authorities today for “serious failings” in sales of payment protection insurance (PPI) to its credit card customers.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) said it found failings in around 40% of telephone sales to Egg customers between January 2005 and last December.

Staff were told to over-emphasise the positive features of PPI and in some cases it was applied to customers’ cards without consent, the FSA said.

The watchdog’s director of enforcement Margaret Cole said Egg was likely to pay “substantial compensation” to customers as a result.