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Firms urged to cut costly calls

Financial firms have been urged to lower the cost of their high-rate customer and complaint lines after a study for consumer watchdog Which? found 73% are high-rate numbers.

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'No excuse' for financial firms to use high-rate numbers

Consumer watchdog Which? has called on leading financial providers to follow the example of a minority of firms that have dropped costly call numbers.

Barclays and Barclaycard said they will now offer a freephone or basic rate number for all customer help lines.

We applaud Barclays and Barclaycard for breaking from the pack on high rate numbers and want to see other financial firms follow their lead.

It's great news that NatWest and RBS are doing the right thing for their customers by dropping costly calls. The new leaders at RBS have promised to renew the banks' efforts to improve customer service and this is a very welcome start.

With two of the biggest banking groups now leading the way by offering freephone or geographic numbers, we hope this is a tipping point for the banking sector - there's really no excuse for other providers not to follow suit.

– Which? executive director Richard Lloyd

084 and 087 numbers the norm for financial call lines

Consumer watchdog Which? found 95% of credit card providers studied and 89% of current account providers use expensive 084 or 087 numbers for complaints or customer service help lines.

Existing customers are also being charged more than new ones, with free 0800 numbers used for 52% of sales or new customer lines compared with just 26% for existing customers and 21% for complaints.

The survey of 2,070 found 39% prefer to call financial firms with an inquiry and 31% would rather complain by phone.

A British Bankers' Association spokesman said:

All banks are actively looking at how they can reduce costs for customers. We expect to see many banks changing to use local numbers for complaints in the near future and it is good to see that some banks have already committed to doing so.

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73% of financial firms use high-rate phone numbers

Financial firms are excluded from a impending EU ban on the use of expensive numbers for customer help lines. Credit: Ian West/PA Wire

Financial firms have been urged to lower the cost of their high-rate customer and complaint lines after a study found 73% are high-rate numbers.

Consumer watchdog Which? found that 177 out of 242 lines for services such as current accounts, loans and credit cards were pricey 084 or 087 numbers.

The companies included leading high street banks and building societies such as HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Nationwide and TSB Bank, credit card providers American Express, Capital One and Tesco Bank and insurers Aviva, Churchill and Direct Line.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "Millions of us prefer to deal with our bank on the phone, yet we are expected to cough up for a costly call when we do."

:: Populus surveyed 2,070 adults online between August 30 and September 1.

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