New Banking Code launched

The new Codes take effect today following an independent review. Changes to the codes were made after consultation with consumer groups, HM Treasury, the Financial Services Authority, the Office of Fair Trading and other interested parties.

As well as the enhanced promise of fairness, further key improvements to the Banking Code include:

• a new commitment on responsible lending;

• more help for customers who may be heading towards financial difficulties;

• strengthened credit assessment practices to enhance responsible lending;

• clearer information about products, including pre-sale summary boxes for unsecured loans and savings accounts;

• prohibition of account closure as a result of a customer making a valid complaint;

• information on how to find your lost account (dormant account);

• greater clarity of cheque clearance times; and

• clearer information about credit cards and credit card cheques.

Angela Knight, Chief Execuitve of the British Bankers' Association, said:

For further information, please contact:
Lesley McLeod, BBA (020 7216 8825 Lesley.McLeod@bba.org.uk )
Rosalind Sellers, APACS (020 7711 6280 rosalind.sellers@apacs.org.uk )
Rachel Le Brocq, BSA (020 7440 2205 rachel.lebrocq@bsa.org.uk )
Neil Johnson, BSA (020 7440 2260 neil.johnson@bsa.org.uk )

Notes to Editors:

The Codes updated promise on fairness states:

"We promise we will treat you fairly and reasonably when providing you with products and services covered in this Code. We will keep this promise by meeting all of the key commitments shown below.

1. We will make sure that our advertising and promotional literature is clear and not misleading and that you are given clear information about our products and services.



2. We will give you clear information about accounts and services, how they work, their terms and conditions and the interest rates which may apply. 3. We will help you use your account or service by sending you regular statements (where appropriate) and we will keep you informed about changes to the interest rates, charges or terms and conditions.



3. We will help you to switch your current account between financial institutions subscribing to this Code.



4. We will lend responsibly.



5. We will deal quickly and sympathetically with things that go wrong and consider all cases of financial difficulty sympathetically and positively.



6. We will treat all your personal information as private and confidential, and operate secure and reliable banking and payment systems.



7. We will publicise this Code, have copies available and make sure that our staff are trained to put it into practice.

In order to meet these promises we will as a minimum take the steps and meet the standards set out in the remainder of this Code.

The Banking Code and Business Banking Code are voluntary codes which sets the standards of good banking practice for banks and building societies to follow when they are dealing with personal customers in the United Kingdom.

As voluntary codes, they allow competition and market forces to work to encourage higher standards for the benefit of customers. The first Banking Code was introduced in December 1991 and took effect from 16 March 1992.

The first Business Banking Code was introduced in December 2001 and took effect from 31 March 2002. Both codes are monitored independently by the Banking Code Standards Board.

The British Bankers' Association (BBA), the Building Societies Association (BSA) and APACS the UK payments association are the three industry sponsors of the Banking Code.

The Banking Code and Business Banking Code are reviewed every three years.

Mike Young was appointed as independent reviewer for the 2007 Code review.

The review process included roundtables for stakeholders together with numerous bilateral meetings for those who preferred to put their points of view to the independent reviewer individually. Copies of the independent review and the industry’s response are similarly available on all the sponsors websites.

In a 2001 report to the Chancellor of the Exchequer DeAnne Julius described the Banking Code as something of an exemplar. In 2005 the then Financial Secretary Stephen Timms told the Treasury Select Committee: I think the Banking Code is an excellent example of self-regulation.

Copies of the new Banking Codes are available from the links below.

Codes are also currently being distributed to all subscribers branches. Subscribers to the Banking Code are allowed a three-month transitional period to achieve compliance with new Code provisions requiring changes to written customer communications. Compliance must be achieved by the 1st July 2008. Details of these provisions can be found on this website.

Photographs of the new Banking Code being printed are available from the BBA press office.

Related Links

The Banking Code 2008 - the key new provisions (Internal Link)
Banking Code 2008 in PDF format (Internal Link)
Business Banking Code 2008 in PDF format (Internal Link)
Banking Code Guidance for Subscribers 2008 - PDF format (Internal Link)
Business Banking Code Guidance for Subscribers 2008 - PDF format (Internal Link)
Banking and Business Banking Code images (Internal Link)
BSA website (External Link)
APACS website (External Link)
Banking Code Standards Board website (External Link)

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