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Rights and Responsibilities

The Banking Code

The Banking Code is a voluntary code that sets standards of good banking practice for financial institutions to follow when dealing with personal customers in the UK. It provides valuable protection for you and explains how financial institutions are expected to deal with you day-to-day and in times of financial difficulty.

The Code applies to a wide range of banking products and services, including credit cards.

With regards to cards and PINs, the Code has the following to say:

General Features of Cards

  • We will only send you a card if you ask for one or to replace a card you already have.
  • If you do not recognise a card transaction that appears on your statement, we will give you more details if you ask us. In some cases, we will need you to give us confirmation or evidence that you have not authorised a transaction.
  • If we confirm a transaction is unauthorised, any interest charged will be refunded, unless you have acted fraudulently or without reasonable care.
  • Your statement will show the rate of commission or charge (if any) we apply to foreign-currency card transactions.

PINs

  • We will give you your PIN (personal identification number) separately from your card.
  • We will not reveal your PIN to anyone else.
  • We will tell you about our systems, which allow you to choose and change your PIN. This should make it easier for you to remember.

Credit Cards

  • Before you become a customer, we will give you the main features of the credit card in a Summary Box.
  • When you apply for a credit card, we will tell you how it works and give you the Terms & Conditions.
  • Before we give you a credit limit, we will assess whether we feel you will be able to repay it.
  • We may increase your credit limit on your credit card.
    • You can contact us any time if you want to reduce your credit limit or opt out of receiving credit limit increases
    • You can ask us to increase your credit limit and we will consider this when we have made appropriate checks
    • Sometimes, we may decide to reduce your credit limit.
  • You will receive a monthly statement for your credit card unless your account has a nil balance and has not been used. The monthly statement will include information about transactions since the last statement date, any interest that applies, the minimum repayment and other useful information including the ‘allocation of payments’ (how we use your payment to reduce your balance).
  • We will make sure that your minimum repayment covers more than that month’s interest.
  • We will warn you when an introductory promotional interest rate on your credit card is about to come to an end.
  • If you make a cash withdrawal with a credit card, it will be treated as a cash advance and we may charge you a handling fee and interest at the cash advance rate from the date of withdrawal.
  • You have the opportunity to say you do not want to receive credit card cheques and we will let you know about any fees if you use these cheques. You may not have the same level of protection when you use a credit card cheque as you do with a credit card.

You can pick up a copy of the full Banking Code from any bank branch.