What a handy distraction it makes for the banks to stand accused of closing down accounts held by Nigel Farage and others on the basis of their political views. It is a distraction because otherwise the big banking story this week would be a meeting between the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the large banks to discuss just why savings rates have failed to keep pace with mortgage rate rises.
According to Moneyfacts, the average rate of a two year fixed-rate mortgage has climbed to 6.4 per cent. Meanwhile, savers with instant access accounts have to make do with a measly 2.4 per cent. That is a yawning gap which simply wasn’t possible to maintain during the long years of near-zero base rates. But it is a powerful generator of profits now.
Customers used to be rewarded for loyalty; now they are punished
The reality is that all the virtue-signalling stuff is being used as a cover for the banks’ other failures.
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