Labour

Vital that George Osborne’s new regulator is on the side of ordinary savers - Chris Leslie

Chris Leslie MP, Labour’s Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, responding to Andrew Bailey’s comments about free banking, said:

“Millions of ordinary bank account customers will be concerned by these comments from the Government’s new financial regulator, as they seem to suggest that the banks should be encouraged to charge customers for the privilege of in-credit current accounts.

“It’s vital that George Osborne’s new regulator is on the side of ordinary savers, who trust the banks with their money and who allow the banks to use their deposits to make a profit to cover the costs of their free current accounts. Pensioners with modest savings and hard working people who take care to avoid going into the red will be extremely concerned at the prospect of having to pay around £15 per month for basic deposit, cheque and transactional services.

“We need a regulator that stands up for ordinary bank account customers. The Treasury should send a strong signal that actively encouraging charges for current accounts would be unacceptable.”