The Treasury Committee sought data on the number of business accounts closed from eight banks—including the so-called big four—as part of an investigation into financial accessibility.
According to the data, 141,620 accounts, or 2.7% of the 5.3 million accounts held by small and medium-sized firms (SMEs), were forcibly closed by banks.
The banks provided a range of explanations, including Barclays, TSB, HSBC, Lloyds, Santander, NatWest, Metro Bank, and Handelsbanken.
While HSBC UK reported that over two thirds of the more than 26,000 accounts it terminated in the 12 months leading up to the end of October were related to clients’ “financial viability,” or the accounts being dormant, Lloyds and NatWest were among those who voiced worries about financial crime and fraud.
However, the committee expressed worry that banks were quickly terminating business accounts with little to no notice, citing a variety of reasons.
