Treasury grills bank bosses over savings rates

The Treasury Select Committee says customers are earning between 0.5% and 0.65% on basic savings accounts, well below the Bank of England base rate

The Financial District in London
(Image credit: © Getty images)

The Treasury Select Committee has grilled the bosses from the UK’s “big four” largest banks over why savings rates are so low, despite Bank of England base rate sitting at 4%.

Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and HSBC were questioned by the cross-party committee on a wide range of issues, including savings rates, mortgage rates, bank branch closures, changes to financial regulations and even how homeowners in flood-risk areas are treated.

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Ruth Emery
Contributing editor

Ruth is an award-winning financial journalist with more than 15 years' experience of working on national newspapers, websites and specialist magazines.

She is passionate about helping people feel more confident about their finances. She was previously editor of Times Money Mentor, and prior to that was deputy Money editor at The Sunday Times. 

A multi-award winning journalist, Ruth started her career on a pensions magazine at the FT Group, and has also worked at Money Observer and Money Advice Service. 

Outside of work, she is a mum to two young children, while also serving as a magistrate and an NHS volunteer.