FCA proposes banks increase transparency to customers

The UK financial watchdog has launched proposals to help customers make comparisons for business and personal current accounts.

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is proposing firms who offer personal and business accounts should publish service information about how long it takes to open an account, how long it generally takes to replace a lost, stolen or stopped debit card and number and type of major operational or security incidents.

Other information will include how long it takes to give someone access to a personal current account under a power of attorney, how and when customers can carry out various transactions, including making payments or cancelling a cheque, and whether 24-hour help is available.

The purpose of the regulator's proposal is to make information more easily accessible to customers and comparison services, allowing customers to make a more informed decision when signing on for new products.

The FCA also sees it as an opportunity to increase competition between financial institutions and in turn, see an increase in customer care and service quality.

Christopher Woolard, executive director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: "Customers tell us they think 'all banks are the same' and so they are discouraged from looking for current accounts offering better performance. We know from our consumer research and the CMA’s report that consumers and small businesses are really interested to know about the service their bank or building society offers compared to other firms."

Woolard and the FCA has proposed that performance should be measured quarterly, with the first round of results being released in April 2018, and in addition to the FCA's public disclosure of the reports, firms should publish the information on their own website.