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After an investigation conducted by The Times newspaper claimed that the NatWest advisers were not offering "impartial" advice as advertised but were instead using the time to sell their own products, AMI is calling for the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) and Financial Services Authority (FSA) to look into the matter.

Chris Cummings, director general of AMI, said: "It is now time to do the right thing and withdraw the 'impartial' advertisements that NatWest has been running on television."

MoneySense was launched in 2008 by NatWest with a high-profile TV advertising campaign and the service offers free and impartial personal finance advice to everyone which is 'not linked to endorsing or selling products'.

The Times newspaper conducted a 'mystery shopping' exercise of NatWest and published its results on Saturday (7 February).

According to the article: "In a number of branches visited by Times Money reporters, the MoneySense advice reverted to little more than a sales pitch for NatWest products."

However, NatWest has adamantly defended the MoneySense service.

A NatWest spokesman said: "MoneySense advisers (MSAs) in branches have been a hugely successful initiative, with excellent customer feedback.

"Despite efforts to persuade our impartial and independently trained MSAs into offering advice on specific products, following a comprehensive investigation, we are satisfied that our MSAs did not offer any sales advice.

"In all but one case, they either flatly refused to offer sales advice or alternatively, made an appointment for the reporter with a more appropriate member of staff. In one case, where regrettably product advice was given, we have already addressed this as a training issue."