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As the mountain of ash from the Icelandic volcano subsides and air traffic begins to get back to some sort of normality, it is impossible to put a figure on how much the natural phenomenon has cost the people of the UK.

Holiday makers and business people alike were stranded around the world waiting for the ash to clear the sky-ways of Northern Europe before they could embark on their journey home.

The television news programmes appeared to be revelling in the grief of stranded passengers as they turned up at various air and sea ports to report on the latest situation.

Many travellers were willing to pay extortionate amounts to get themselves closer to home, while others simply had no choice but to sit and wait for the skies to clear.

While insurance companies and the UK Government argued about who was to blame and where compensation should be paid, it was reassuring that the UK’s largest credit card provider responded by announcing that it would re-imburse card holders with any charges they had incurred when withdrawing emergency cash abroad during the disruption.

While these charges may be minimal in the scheme of things it is none the less commendable given how sceptical of the financial institutions we have become during the credit crisis.

The financial institutions really need to show that they are helping out their customers in these difficult times and while others are withdrawing their zero percent transfer offers on credit cards, MBNA still offer this service along with other low APR credit card offers.

Re-imbursing charges incurred while drawing cash to cope with the volcanic disruption may appear a token gesture, but it is also a good business move, helping restore a little faith in an industry that has dragged us all through the mire during the financial crisis. It may well be worth remembering next time you apply for the best credit card deals that MBNA at least did something for their customers while others chose to blame everyone else.