Giant High Street bank Santander is under fire for doubling its charges for those slipping into the red. The Spanish-owned company will hike its daily overdraft fee from 50p to £1 on nearly all current accounts. The bank's timing couldn't be worse, surfacing amid damning newspaper reports on rip-off charges, and has led to accusations of a 'lack of transparency'.

The announcement comes just days after Which? said overdraft fees are so complex a maths PhD students could not understand them and a Money Mail report which exposed 'budget airlines tactics' at banks, who are hammering customers with hidden rip-off fees. Santander faces criticism for failing make its spring-time charge hikes crystal clear to new customers, whom it is wooing with cash bribes worth up to £300. It is in the process of notifying its five million current account holders - one million of whom regularly dip into an overdraft.

But its main online marketing page carries no mention of the changes. Neither does its 'Interest Rates and Fees Information' – its primary list of charges. New customers are required to visit a 'legal details' page – which also pops up during the signup process - and filter out ten jargon-infested documents before a link to 'Important changes from 16 March 2012' is found....Read more HERE