Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the role of financial technology in encouraging consumers to switch their current account.

The government is committed to increasing competition in banking to improve outcomes for consumers. This includes delivering the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) which allows customers to switch their personal or business current account where they see a better deal – simply, quickly and reliably. Consumers have switched over 2.8 million times since the service was launched in 2013.

Making it easier for people to understand and compare banking products and services can help drive consumer engagement and could lead to an increase in switching. Financial technology is an important part of this.

In its recent provisional decision on remedies, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed requiring the largest retail banks in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to develop and adopt an open API banking standard by early 2018.

This will make it easier for financial technology firms to make use of customer bank data in a variety of innovative ways, including providing services that make it easier for consumers to compare products and shop around for a better deal.

The government welcomes the CMA’s ongoing work as a crucial step towards the goal of a highly competitive banking sector, and stands ready to take action as necessary once the CMA publishes its final report in the summer.