HM Treasury has published a speech given by Andrea Leadsom, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, on banking competition in the UK.

In her speech, Ms Leadsom mentions that six of the largest current account providers have committed themselves to giving customers portable current account information in an industry standard format that can be plugged into comparison tools. This is part of the Government’s midata programme, which aims to provide consumers with better access to their personal data so that they can choose better products and services.

Customers will be able to access the new service by the end of the financial year. Customers will then be able to download a year’s worth of their current account data in a single file that will be able to be read by online tools. The information will be stripped of any details that link it directly to an individual customer, making it safer to use.

Ms Leadsom also adds that the FCA will look into the issue of account number portability in detail, later in the year.

View Competition in banking for consumers, 24 June 2014