The High Court has ruled in favour of lenders in the recent case over overdraft penalty charges.
The latest ruling in the ongoing battle between the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and UK banks has resulted in a "positive decision" for the latter, it has been claimed.
Judge Mr Justice Andrew Smith ruled today that common law may not be used to challenge most overdraft charges made between 2001 and 2007.
Barclays, Clydesdale, HSBC and Abbey National's overdraft policies were all ruled to be clear and concise, while NatWest owner Royal Bank of Scotland Group and Lloyds TSB were deemed to require further examination.
Chief executive for the British Banker's Association Angela Knights said: "This is a positive decision for the banks.
"The question of penalties was one of the claims made by the OFT which triggered the initial court case. Now we have had this judgement we are keen to move on to the next stage as quickly as possible."
This latest hearing is one of a series planned to test the legality of banking overdraft charges, which represent approximately £3.5 billion of revenue for UK banks each year.
In April 2008 the banks lost the first round of the overdraft battle when the same judge ruled that the OFT did have the right to rule on the fairness of the charges.
