Can the bank raise may annual fee?

My bank recently informed me that they are raising the annual fees for some services. Do I have to just bite the bullet and accept the higher fees, or can I force them to stick to our original agreement?

Hi there,

The contract signed between you and a financial service provider is the agreement which applies to your relationship. Any changes in that agreement, including changes in fees, privacy policies, or any other area, can only be put into effect with your direct consent.

A financial services provider must present you with an ammended agreement for your signature. You should look at this as a completely new agreement, and only sign if you accept the terms and conditions.

You cannot be obligated to accept changes. If you are not interested in the new product being offered to you, the service provider must stick with its original agreement and continue delivering service under the terms which it originally agreed to.

However, you need to inform the service provider that you are not interested in the new / altered product within 30 days. If you do not, the service provider is legally allowed to assume that you accept the agreement.

Most contracts also make allowances for the service provider to terminate the agreement with sufficient notice if they no longer want to do business with you. Unless the contract ties your service provider into providing the service for a certain time period, they may terminate your agreement if you do not accept their ammended contract.

Take time to compare offers and find another provider with more favorable prices or terms and conditions before you reject an ammendment.

Best regards from Moneyguru

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