Bank Services

(asked on 18th May 2021) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent discussions has he had with (a) bank and card issuers, (b) the Financial Conduct Authority, c) the British Bankers’ Association and (d) the UK Cards Association on (i) subscription traps and (ii) supporting customers to cancel continuous payment authorisations.


Answered by
John Glen Portrait
John Glen
Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office
This question was answered on 26th May 2021

The Government is committed to tackling subscriptions traps and other business practices that harm consumers. To that end, the Government has been working closely with regulators to ensure consumers can easily cancel unwanted subscription contracts and avoid facing unreasonable charges.

Regarding Continuous Payment Authorities (CPAs), the Payment Services Regulations regulate how CPAs are established, and the rights and obligations of payers, payees and payment service providers. In its published guidance on the regulations, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) states that consumers have the right to cancel CPAs by contacting their payment service provider at any time before the end of the business day before a payment is due to be made, and to obtain an immediate refund from their payment service provider if any future payments are debited from their account after they have revoked their consent.

Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-giftsand-overseas-travel

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