The head of Tesco Bank has broken ranks and spoken out about the way that the banking cartel is denying savers a decent interest rate on their savings.
It is not something that most of us have not noticed; some banks and building societies are even offering saving rates lower than the rate of inflation – and they seem proud of themselves for this daylight robbery.
Apart from casting a question of ethical behaviour over the entire sector, it also suggests an overall lack of competition. In fact, it brings the Libor scandal to mind.
In an age of highly sophisticated technology, there is no reason why if a saver is unhappy with the returns s/he is getting on an account why that person should not be able to switch accounts within 24 hours, certainly within 48 hours.
Equally, there is no possible excuse why with every annual statement the account holder should not be informed of the interest rate the account is attracting – as a matter of course. As we know, quite often these figures are buried deep in the pile of documents, if it is mentioned at all.
This is the kind of behaviour that is right at the very heart of treating customers fairly, the day-to-day experiences of ordinary punters, rather than the fanciful notions of technocrats which have no relation to reality.
One of the roles of the City regulator is to save investors and savers from themselves, even those who suffer from acute inertia. The point is that we do not, and should not, expect ordinary savers to be experts on the returns on their current accounts.
What people want to know is that their life savings are safely held in a current account and are available when they need them.
It is the ethical responsibility of the banks, overseen by the regulator, to make sure those savings are held in the best circumstances, including the returns.
The way to resolve these matters, apart from compelling institutions to inform savers annually in writing, is by forensically unearthing the individual manager who made the decision and barring that person from ever working in financial services again.
