MBNA fined for €17m overcharging

ONE of the country’s leading credit card lenders has been fined by the Central Bank after overcharging its customers by €17 million.

MBNA Europe has been hit with a €750,000 fine after charging more than 370,000 of its Irish-based customers more interest than necessary. All instances occurred over a two-year timeframe, between early July 2007 and late October 2009. In all, some 373,105 customer accounts were affected and overcharged by a combined €16.99m.

“The systems and controls breaches arose because the firm failed to ensure that there was consistency between the firm’s systems and the terms and conditions. It’s noted that although controls existed in respect of the review process, these controls weren’t effective and resulted in the overcharging occurring,” the Central Bank explained yesterday.