Banks rip-off - Cosy cartel is fleecing customers

PERSISTENT allegations of a cosy cartel enabling Irish banks to rule out competition in the market have been borne out by a major report which shows customers here are being ripped off to a degree that would not be tolerated elsewhere in Europe.

Yet, ongoing complaints about the two big banks, AIB and Bank of Ireland, are invariably dismissed as baseless as they continue to rake in unconscionable profits on the backs of long-suffering clients.

They can no longer, however, evade the hard evidence of this report by leading US bank JP Morgan which found Irish people are being charged through the nose compared with their British and European counterparts.