UK Banks Told to Improve Access to Basic Bank Accounts

The Financial Conduct Authority has instructed UK banks to improve access to basic bank accounts, the stripped-down, fee-free products designed for people who are ineligible for or unable to manage a standard current account. Basic accounts typically offer a debit card, direct debits and standing orders without an overdraft facility, and the largest banks are required to offer them. They are a key financial-inclusion tool for people with poor credit histories, those in problem debt, recent arrivals to the UK, and people experiencing homelessness or leaving institutional settings, for whom having a bank account is often the precondition for receiving wages or benefits. The regulator's intervention suggests that in practice consumers have run into obstacles: staff unfamiliar with the product, requests for documentation that vulnerable applicants struggle to provide, or being steered toward accounts that carry charges. The move sits within the FCA's wider consumer-protection agenda under the Consumer Duty, and alongside recent work on illegal financial promotions and AI in retail finance. Banks will now be expected to demonstrate that eligible customers can find, apply for and open basic accounts without undue friction.