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.
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:
More top news
-
Joe Biden vows to fight racial inequality with economic agenda
The Democratic presidential candidate may also have shown his cards on his choice of running mate.
-
Trump reverts to promoting unproven drug as coronavirus treatment
The US president also shared a post on Twitter accusing Dr Anthony Fauci of misleading the public over hydroxychloroquine.
-
What the papers say – July 29
Fears over an impending second wave of coronavirus dominates Wednesday’s front pages.