Next year, the FCA will introduce a series of measures to ensure firms provide clear information about interest rates on cash savings products. Firms will be told to directly inform consumers of changes in interest rates, when their introductory rate will end and the expiration of bonus rates or the maturity of fixed-term accounts. The regulator intends to publish information highlighting which providers pay the poorest interest rates to longstanding customers.

The watchdog will be consulting with providers to establish seven-day switching for the vast majority of cash ISA transfers from January 2017.

The FCA is asking for feedback on its proposals and is expected to finalise the regulations later this year.

Christopher Woolard, director of strategy and competition at the FCA, said: “In a good market, providers should be competing to offer the best possible deal. Consumers should expect the information they need to shop around to be clear and easy to understand. When they wish to move accounts, they should be able to do so with the minimum of fuss.

“Our package of measures are all about giving consumers the information they need to make an informed decision about what to do with their savings, and the ability to act on it quickly.”

Andrew Hagger of Moneycomms.co.uk said the proposals were “welcome, but long overdue”.

“Providers should have been doing these basics as a matter of course and it shouldn’t have needed the regulator to step in to make it happen. For too long providers have increased profitability to the detriment of customers as their cash sits in accounts offering miserly returns,” he said.

“Making interest rate information more prominent and increasing communication when introductory rates come to an end should help consumers earn a better return on their cash.

“Too often banks and building societies offer best buy deals for new customers whilst hordes of loyal savers on the back book are left with long forgotten deals paying next to nothing. The introduction of seven-day switching for ISAs from 2017 is a positive step and banks will need to continue to up their game in the tax-free savings market, especially when the peer-to-peer providers join the fray next April.”

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