A new survey claims that 73 per cent of small businesses have reason to query bank charges and over half have secured a refund for overcharging.

The survey by the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises (ISME) association is based on responses from 142 small firms. It states that 63 per cent of all queries to banks concern interest rates and charges. Of the 27 per cent of firms that did not question the banks, 10 per cent were automatically refunded where mistakes were discovered.