“AIB will charge me for not having enough money in my account, apparently I can’t even afford to be broke.”
Regulation is a tricky area, it is a branch of law more than of finance and like law it is open to interpretation, precedent and individual cases.
So when I see Anne Fitzgerald of the NCA say that AIB is ‘breaking the rule that required it to act in the best interests of its customers’. I am concerned because it doesn’t present the context of the rule, rather it just makes a statement.
The actual rule being mentioned is Section 2.1 & 2.2 of the 2012 Consumer Protection Code. Chapter 2 in general covers consumer credit, payment services, and electronic money. The actual text of this section (2.1/2.2) is as follows:
“A regulated entity must ensure that in all its dealings with customers and within the context of its authorisation it that it (2.1)acts honestly, fairly and professionally in the best …