Bank's cheque campaign was 'misleading'
A bank that claimed in Britain to clear cheques in under six seconds has been told its adverts were misleading by regulators.
Barclays launched a nationwide poster campaign under the slogan ‘‘Please allow six working seconds for cheques to clear. Instant access to your money’’.
But only a ‘‘barely legible’’ footnote explained that the offer was conditional and subject to status.
And nor was the offer a guarantee that cheques would not bounce, only that customers would be able to draw the money from their accounts.
The bank argued that its offer was based on a service allowing customers to withdraw funds the instant they were paid into their accounts.
Although the offer was not dependent on the credit being processed between banks, it was subject to conditions stated in the poster’s small print.
But today, the Advertising Standards Authority ruled that the small print was ‘‘too small’’ and that the poster was misleading.
As a result, the ASA said it welcomed the decision not to use the poster again but asked the advertisers to increase significantly the prominence of conditions in any future adverts.
