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Southwest Airlines Rectifies Ticket Billing Error

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with an airline refund.

Refunds are starting to arrive in the bank accounts of Southwest Airlines' customers who were billed multiple times for promotional fares booked on Friday. Some customers paid for their discounted air travel as many as 20 times, according to the Associated Press. The company blamed the problem on a computer glitch.

Southwest has promised to pick up any fees caused by the repeated charges after customers complained that their accounts were overdrawn, checks were bouncing.

And as the economies of countries like Spain and Greece continue to falter, American banks are taking steps to make sure their books will balance.

The Financial Times reports that Wall Street banks are moving to prevent redenomination risk. That's the threat that a country like Spain could some day leave the euro and have to pay back its debt in a less valuable currency.

One way that banks are pushing to protect themselves is by ensuring that contracts fall under the jurisdiction of American or British courts, which are seen as more likely to demand repayment in euros. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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