Britons petition banks to make foreign exchange fees clear

By Patrick Graham

LONDON, Nov 19 (Reuters) - More than 13,000 Britons signedan online petition within hours on Wednesday calling forregulators to force banks to tell consumers how much they makeon everyday foreign currency transactions.

The campaign - backed by money transfer company, TransferWise - is the latest push for more transparency by companies inLondon which are trying to eat into margins on transactions theWorld Bank says average as much as nine percent.

This week saw calls for more regulation of wholesale foreigncurrency markets after six banks were fined a total $4.3 billionfor alleged manipulation, and added competition for retail andsmall business transactions would be an extra headache.

While a decade of computerisation has slashed to a fewhundredths of a cent the premium that banks charge largecompanies and financial clients for buying euros or dollars,consumers are still more likely to be charged a few whole cents.

Transfer Wise laid out research from the World Bank and theCharterhouse agency which showed that banks and othertraditional providers of currency made 79 million pounds ($124million) on embedded fees for consumer transactions in 2012.

Such charges would be slashed if banks were forced to givedetails of the spread charged between mid-market rate - roughlywhat a bank pays for the currency - and the rate offered to theconsumer, Transfer Wise said.

Banks, still the main destination for people who needforeign currency, say they are providing a competitive serviceand point to the costs of running secure operations and largeretail networks. They say fees fall for larger amounts.

Research by polling body YouGov has shown that 80 percent ofsenior decision makers in small UK businesses underestimated ordid not know how much banks were charging them for foreigncurrency, a manifesto accompanying the petition said.

Transfer Wise were targetting 100,000 signatures on popularcampaigning website change.org and intend to send it to the UKTreasury's Economic Secretary for Financial Services, AndreaLeadsom.

The company says UK regulators responsible for the financialsector, payment systems and advertising, should insist on moreinformation being provided at point of sale, and is calling fora public awareness campaign from lawmakers and consumer groups. (Editing by Louise Ireland)