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More people to get access to bank accounts

April 4, 2010 by admin  
Filed under News, News-Banking

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According to recent report many more people will be able to get access to facilities, after plans were announced by the government to force banks to offer bank account facilities to all. Under the plans, which were revealed in the recent budget, banks may have to offer at least a basic bank account to everyone that is legally entitled to have banking facilities in the UK. With banks having been at the receiving end of much criticism over the past year this is just one of the measures that are being looked at to try and tighten the way in which the UK’s banks operate.

The government claims that there are around 1.75 million people in the UK that have not got access to banking facilities at present, and hopes that this move will help to ensure that a large proportion of these people are provided with access to bank accounts. Many may be able to get basic banking facilities under the new regulations, and these are accounts that allow the accountholder to carry out transactions such as transfers, payments, receiving money, and setting up direct debits, but do not come with a cheque book or overdraft facility.

The British Banker’s Association has argued that the move is not necessary because people that want to have a bank account can have one anyway. Many of those that can only get access to a basic bank account are people that are on low incomes and are limited in terms of how much they can put into the account, or those that have a poor credit rating.

A promise was also made to move more quickly when deciding whether to grant a new banking licence to companies, and this was welcomed by consumer campaign group Which?. Officials from the group said: “People have been telling us how fed up they are with the sales culture that appears to have replaced customer service in our banks. New entrants in the market offering genuinely competitive products will help bring about the culture change the industry so desperately needs.”

Tags: bank account, basic bank account, Banking, british bankers association, which, bank, Ethical banking, bank account facilities

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