Fine Gael has called on the financial regulator to take "urgent steps to restore consumer confidence" following the latest AIB overcharging scandal.
The party's Enterprise, Trade & Employment spokesman, Mr Phil Hogan, described the €1.4 million in overcharging that has been identified in relation to the bank's student schemes as "grave".
Mr Hogan said: "The drip feed of scandals and breaches of the regulations is very disturbing. . . . Consumer confidence in Irish banking and the financial sector has plummeted."
Mr Hogan called on Irish Financial Services Regulatory Authority (IFSRA) to examine the matter urgently and issue a report.
"By this stage many consumers must believe they are being ripped off by financial institutions on an ongoing basis, and at worst, that this practice is not confined to one institution," he claimed
In a statement yesterday, AIB said some 34,000 customers, or about 15 per cent of the total in the category concerned, were affected by this latest development. "The total involved before interest compensation is of the order of €1.4 million," it said.
The average amount is €41 per student. The issue, which goes back to the mid-1990s, emerged as part of the investigation of pricing across its product range, the bank said.
"As part of the trawl, AIB has determined that certain advertised discounts, which were available to full-time third-level students and graduates, were not applied in all cases."