End the Opt Out

£4.4 billion — that's how much UK consumers & businesses lost to hidden fees in 2023.

Hidden fees are a big problem. Banks and other providers hide sneaky charges in inflated exchange rates and never tell their customers. There is a law that should force providers to be transparent and show “all costs and charges” but it’s being skirted.

And the story is even bleaker for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs). A loophole — the so-called corporate opt out — allows financial providers to avoid applying any level of transparency to SMBs’ international payments at all. These are the same providers who claim to love SMBs…

We say it’s time to End the Opt Out. And we’re demanding stronger legislation too: no more hidden fees, no more loopholes.

In the last year alone, Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) in the UK lost £2.8 billion to hidden fees on international payments. It’s unsurprising — but wrong — that over a quarter (26%) of SMBs are put off from expanding internationally by the high cost of international banking. The sector needs fair competition — and for that, it needs transparency.

Sign our petition to the Prime Minister and we will deliver it to Downing Street.