Our report analyses the state of competition in the cash savings market, sets out the results we expect to see and the actions needed to achieve these.
Read the Cash Savings Market Review 2023[1]
Why we reviewed the market
Amid concerns that not all savers are getting good deals, we reviewed how the savings market is supporting customers to benefit from higher interest rates.
While we’ve seen some progress, significant action is needed to make sure that the savings market delivers the best outcomes for consumers, in line with the Consumer Duty[2], which came into force on 31 July 2023.
Next steps
Following our analysis, we've identified 8 actions we’ll take and 6 actions for firms. Together these will improve competition in the market and help make sure that consumers get better savings outcomes.
We’ll conduct a further review of the cash savings market in the second half of 2023, and will propose further action if insufficient progress is made.
Background
Consumers across the UK collectively hold around £1.5 trillion in savings accounts. At a time when the costs of living are high, these savings provide an important source of financial resilience.
It’s therefore vital for both consumers and the wider economy that there’s a competitive and well-functioning cash savings market.
Over the last year, we’ve raised publicly and privately with the industry the importance of treating savers fairly as the UK base rate has risen sharply from 0.1% in December 2021 to 5.0% in July 2023. This follows action we took in 2016 to improve the savings market, after analysis showed that it was not working effectively for many consumers.