Consumer watchdog puts focus on hidden costs of cashback mortgages

Competition and Consumer Protection Commission addresses deals that cost first-time buyers large sums of money over the lifetime of their loans

The State’s competition watchdog has discussed in great detail the potential hidden costs for consumers taking out cashback mortgages, as it mulled whether to give the go-ahead to Bank of Ireland to secure €9bn of the mortgage loan books from KBC Bank Ireland.

The full report by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission was published yesterday.