In its provisional decision on remedies (PDF, 3.72MB, 405 pages), published on 17 May, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) outlines a wide-ranging package of proposals to tackle the issues hindering competition in personal current accounts (PCA) and in banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The detailed proposals include new protections for overdraft users.
At present, it is hard for bank customers to work out if they are getting good value. Bank charges are complicated and opaque and many customers think it is difficult and risky to change banks.
As a result, nearly 60% of personal customers have stayed with the same bank for over 10 years and over 90% of SMEs get their business loans from the bank where they have their current account.
This means that competitive pressures are weak, so banks do not need to work hard enough on price or quality of service.
The CMA considered whether the largest banks should be broken up but it came to the view that this would not address the fundamental competition problems. Having more and smaller banks, which customers still couldn’t easily choose between because of lack of transparency on fees and charges, would not significantly improve the market or give customers a better deal.
The CMA also considered whether to get rid of ‘free if in credit’ (FIIC) current accounts. Even though FIIC accounts are not really ‘free’, they do work well for many customers, and banning particular products would simply take away choice and risk the overall cost of accounts rising, not falling.
To transform the market the CMA believes banks instead need to be made to provide their customers with the right information so that they can easily find out which provider and type of account offers best value for them. The CMA also proposes to push the development of new online comparison tools and improve the current account switch service (CASS) to make switching banks more straightforward and give customers more awareness of, and confidence in, the process.
Find more information here.
Alasdair Smith, Chair of the Retail Banking Investigation, said:
“For too long, banks have been able to sit back and not work hard enough for their personal and small business customers. We believe the strong and innovative package of measures we are proposing will give customers the information and tools they really need to get a better deal out of the banks. They will also protect those who fall into overdraft from being stung with unexpected fees.
“New entrants into a market are an important source of competition and innovation, and we are well aware of the current barriers to challenger banks in UK retail banking. What’s really holding them back is their ability to highlight to customers how new offerings compare with their current deal. Our package of banking reforms will help new competitors get a stronger foothold in a market which is of vital importance to the whole economy.”
