Competition Stale in Banking Industry, says Which?

There is a lack of genuine competition in the retail banking industry, a consumer body's policy adviser has claimed.

Mick McAteer of Which? said that banks whose product ranges are in reality narrow and expensive are still dominating the market despite customers' apparent disillusionment with many of the services they are receiving.

He told the BBC's Breakfast programme: "There is the illusion of competition. There are plenty of products on offer and so on, but we don't think there is any real effective competition.

"[Research from Which?] shows the big banks offer the most expensive products, the poorest quality of service and actually have the lowest customer satisfaction rate.

"But the irony is it's actually the big banks with the lowest customer satisfaction that have the biggest market share, which is a clear sign that competition isn't working very well."

These comments precede the announcement expected later today that high-street bank HSBC has posted profits of around £11 billion – a record for the British banking industry.

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