Second case of overcharging at BoI sparks calls for probe

CALLS have been made for the Financial Regulator to investigate a second laser card overcharging incident involving Bank of Ireland in as many months.

The bank yesterday confirmed it was investigating yet another incident in which a number of its customers were double-charged on laser card transactions.

Last month, Bank of Ireland admitted it had overcharged some 120,000 laser customers. At that time, the repayment by the bank included all overdraft fees and penalties charged to customers who were put into the red as a result of the incorrect charges.

A spokesperson for the bank yesterday said that the duplication of account transactions occurred on Tuesday afternoon.

However, the bank could not confirm how many people were affected by the overcharging but said that all affected customers’ balances had been corrected and should now be accurate.

The spokesperson said that a major technical investigation was under way but it could be “some time” before the cause of the error was established.

Fine Gael deputy finance spokesman Kieran O’Donnell said yesterday: “The fact that Bank of Ireland accounts were overcharged on laser payments, for the second time, shows the banking sector is still hopelessly out of touch.

“Taxpayers have bailed out the banks to the tune of billions of euros. This sort of sloppy attitude by banks to their customers should be a distant memory. But it keeps on happening.

“I would urge an immediate investigation by the Financial Regulator into this second overcharging incident, which must ensure that it never happens again.”

Last month, AIB admitted 400 of its mortgage holders had been overcharged by almost €400,000. It involved customers with tracker mortgages being overcharged by the bank between 2002 and 2007.

The bank admitted the error and said it would refund €395,000 to the customers in question.