HSBC to refund excessive foreign currency fees

26th Nov 2014 13:50

HSBC will refund customers in certain Middle Eastern and North African countries for charging excessive foreign currency fees on debit and credit card transactions.According to Reuters, the decision was made following an internal review of the bank's terms and conditions for forex fees on debit and credit products.The bank will refund customers affected in the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Oman, Bahrain and Lebanon.In an email sent out to customers, the lender confirmed that it would refund amounts charged in excess of the costs set out in its terms and conditions."We found we could have better explained how we charged fees for foreign currency transactions, especially if more than one fee was applicable. HSBC believed the right thing to do was to refund customers any amount that was not entirely clear in the terms and conditions," a HSBC spokeswoman told Reuters.In the half year ended June 30, HSBC Middle East posted a 9.2% increase in net fee income at $289.7m.Recently, Banks operating in currency exchange markets have been battling competition from a rising number of cheaper, non-bank money transfer providers.UK-based transfer provider TransferWise has organised an online petition calling for regulators to force UK banks to increase transparency on foreign currency fees. So far the petition has been signed by more than 17,000 consumers.