UK’s biggest banks defend their interest rates before Treasury select committee

THE CEOs of the UK’s four biggest banks told MPs that savers could access numerous and competitive savings deals.

Like their Spanish counterparts, they face rising criticism of poor rates of interest although the Lloyds, NatWest, HSBC and Barclays chief executives maintained that deals had improved as savers shopped around.

The Bank of England’s interest rate was historically low for a decade until December 2021, following which it has risen from 0.1 to 4 per cent.

The Treasury select committee MPs told the bankers that their constituents complained that mortgage rates rose more rapidly than the returns offered to savers.

Neither was it lost on them that Matt Hammerstein (Barclays), Charlie Nunn, (Lloyds Banking Group), Ian Stuart (HSBC and Dame Alison Rose (NatWest) between them earn more than £10 million (€11.3 million) a year.

Answering the MPs, the executives contended that the debate focused incorrectly on the interest rate on easy-access savings accounts, which was normally under 1 per cent.

Regular deals offered market-leading rates of interest, they said, while instant-access products often opened the door to higher interest deals.

In fact they were encouraging people to save, they insisted.

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