OFT on the attack over standards

Britain's banks faced a fresh blow yesterday as the Office of Fair Trading said a lack of competition among high street retail banks was harming consumers.

The watchdog is launching a market study to assess how successfully the industry allows customers to switch between banks, how transparent charges are and how well banks allow customers to manage their accounts.

Its director Clare Hart said: "We are concerned that a lack of effective competition means the retail banking sector is not working in the interest of customers and businesses.

"We want to see banks become more customer focused."