NatWest, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC to be quizzed over savings rates concerns

The bosses of Lloyds, HSBC, NatWest and Barclays are to look questions from the regulator implicit concerns that involvement rates connected savings are excessively low.

Interest complaint rises person led lenders to hike owe costs, but savings rates person not been rising arsenic fast.

It has led to concerns banks could beryllium making excess profits, and slope bosses volition beryllium quizzed by the Financial Conduct Authority aboriginal connected Thursday.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has said the watchdog has his "full backing".

It is understood the FCA volition property the large 4 connected their savings rates astatine the meeting. A root has told the Financial Times that the regulator believes banks could supply much worth to customers.

Figures released connected Wednesday showed the mean two-year fixed owe complaint was 6.51%, portion the average, and astir common, casual entree savings relationship complaint based connected £10,000 of savings, was 2.48%.

The gap, 4.03%, is astir treble what it was successful December 2021 (2.19%), erstwhile the Bank of England archetypal starting expanding involvement rates successful an effort to dilatory the velocity of rising user prices.

The Bank has been expanding involvement rates to marque it much costly for radical to get money, and much worthwhile for them to prevention - the mentation being that consumers volition walk little and terms increases volition dilatory down.

Its basal complaint - which influences the owe and savings rates acceptable by High Street banks - is present astatine 5%.

Analysis from banking elephantine JP Morgan has suggested involvement rates successful the UK could scope 5.75% by November, and beryllium astatine a higher level for immoderate time.

However, it warned that successful a worst-case scenario, if ostentation failed to travel down, a basal complaint of 7% "might beryllium required".

Banks' profits mostly emergence successful enactment with involvement rates, but lenders reason that savers person entree to a big of competitory deals.

UK Finance, the commercialized assemblage for the banking sector, has antecedently said redeeming and owe rates "aren't straight linked and truthful determination astatine antithetic times and by antithetic amounts".

Lloyds and NatWest person not responded to the BBC's petition for comment, but Barclays has said it "regularly" reviews its savings rates.

HSBC has said it has accrued its savings rates "more than a twelve times since the opening of past year".