MP demands inquiry after Egg shows card customers the door
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Egg may be investigated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) over its decision last month to terminate the contracts of 161,000 credit card customers.
Labour MP Nigel Griffiths, a former consumer affairs minister, has written to the OFT asking it to step in. He says he has received complaints from constituents that they have been unfairly branded a bad credit risk by the online bank.
He adds that many Egg customers claim they pay back their card balances in full every month and do not miss repayments, yet have still had their accounts closed on the grounds that they pose an unacceptable risk.
Mr Griffiths believes that while the bank has the right to cancel its customers' cards, it should not be allowed to give a misleading reason for doing so.
"Egg has got a lot of explaining to do. If you want to get rid of customers who are not bad credit risks but who you just don't make money out of, then you should make a charge for your card," Mr Griffiths explained.
Egg has vehemently denied that it has been misleading in the reasons it has given for cancelling cards. But Mr Griffiths, who met with Egg's chief executive last week, remains unconvinced. He says that if it is proved the bank has unfairly branded customers a bad risk, it should have to apologise and pay compensation.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments