John McDonnell MP, Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, responding to today’s report from the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) on consumer banking, said:

“We welcome the report by the CMA and support many of their recommendations around more transparency for customers. It is now up to the Government to reflect carefully on these provisional findings.

“We support efforts to promote greater transparency around the banking sector and welcome the CMA’s findings highlighting barriers faced by customers in switching their current accounts. As the British Banking Association have acknowledged, customers must be fully empowered.

“Clearly more has to be done to better help inform and support customers to switch as there is a worryingly low level of personal bank account switching currently taking place, in what looks increasingly like a very uncompetitive market.

“It is vitally important that we have a banking sector that is not self-serving, but rather helps serve our economy, supporting customers and businesses better.

“We encourage wide participation in the forthcoming consultation process in order to contribute to a more comprehensive series of proposals and regulation of the high-street banking sector.”