Bank Charges Protest Song

Update Jun 2019: This is the original text from when the song launched back in 2008 – we're no longer trying to get it to number 1! If you think you're owed money, you can still claim, see our Bank charges reclaim guide.

Bank charges are unlawful, yet the banks have been making billions from them for years. The campaign to reclaim bank charges has been enormous; over 4.4m free template letters have been downloaded from this site alone, equating to more than 1.4m individual claims with a total estimated £1 billion paid back.

Yet last July, the banks agreed to a test case with the Office of Fair Trading, to be held this January (2008). While this is welcomed, shockingly at the same time the regulator, the FSA, put a hold on all bank charges reclaiming, which has saved the banks many £100s millions; and left many consumers confused and in hardship.

This has always been a campaign, and alongside other groups like the Consumer Action Group and Penalty Charges, we've been championing pure consumer power; the big institutions of state seem to have currently sided with the big institutions of finance and this is about doing everything possible to fight back. A petition to number 10 signed by over 70,000 has so far been ignored; so let's see them ignore the top of the charts!

For full info on how to claim back your bank charges go to the Bank Charges article. For the latest info on what is happening to the bank charges campaign, go to the OFT Test Case article.

Can it really get to number 1?

The numbers speak for themselves. Over 4.4m bank charges reclaiming template letters have been downloaded in the last year, by roughly 1.4m people. Each week, this site’s weekly MoneySaving e-mail goes to over 1.5m people and they’ve been sent a special note asking them all to support the song, to send a message to the Government and the FSA. 

Now think of those numbers and remember it only takes roughly 15,000 downloads to get in the top 10, and 30,000 to be a number one. With your help this can top the charts. If you text again from the same mobile number, it will only be counted towards the chart position once. 

So ask your family, friends, their friends, their milkman, his family, cats, dogs, whoever, wherever, to buy a copy and help us give the Government, the Banks and the FSA a well-deserved kick up the backside.

Oystar singer Dan wrote the song after winning £530 in overdraft charges from Lloyds TSB, using template letters from the bank charges reclaiming article. He posted it on the Forums, where it went down a storm, and it didn't take long for it to end up in the Weekly E-mail. Then it was spotted by music producers at Tonedef Tunes and Indie Mobile, who were so impressed they offered to produce it for a proper release.

The song sets original lyrics to the instrumental of The Clash's 'I fought the law', and features Martin in the role of 'sensei', employing his wizened MoneySaving knowledge to steel his young protege for the big fight ahead.