The FCA review of bank and other payment accounts was undertaken due to concerns about the scale of account closures and access to financial services, and more recently, concerns centred on whether account providers have closed customers’ accounts because of their lawfully-expressed political views or beliefs. To better understand the scale and reasons for any account closures, the FCA collected data from 34 firms. This report sets out their findings and proposed follow up actions.
Key findings include:
- The information supplied by banks, building societies and payment companies suggests that no firm closed an account between July 2022 and June 2023 primarily because of a customer’s political views. Note The Payment Accounts Regulations ban banks or building societies discriminating on this basis.
- The most common reasons providers gave for declining, suspending or terminating an account were because it was inactive/dormant or because there were concerns about financial crime.
The FCA reiterates to firms their obligations under the Consumer Duty, and the need to ensure they are collecting accurate and sufficient information to fully assess whether they are delivering good outcomes for their customers.
FCA review of bank and other payment accounts can be read here