Emma RadmoreFCA has published its initial findings in its review of bank account access and closures. It has based its conclusions on information provided for the year to June 2023 by 34 firms. The key conclusion is that no firm closed an account during that time primarily because of a customer’s political views. By far the most common reason for closure was that the account was dormant or inactive, or that there were financial crime concerns.
Since this report results from work carried out to a tight timescale, FCA will now work on a more detailed exercise including:
- further follow up on the accuracy of the data it received, focussing on outlier firms;
- more supervisory work to assure itself of the accuracy of firm’s conclusions on account closed for political reasons and on the basis of reputational risk;
- more work on declined and closed basic bank accounts;
- research into why over 1 million people remain unbanked;
- engagement with consumer groups to understand their experience of declines and terminations; and
- a financial inclusion sprint early in 2024.