BSA comments on OFT response to cash ISA super-complaint

BSA comments on OFT response to cash ISA super-complaint

BSA comments on OFT response to cash ISA super-complaint

Commenting today on the OFT’s formal response to the Consumer Focus super-complaint on cash ISAs, Adrian Coles, BSA Director-General, said:

“We welcome the constructive response from the OFT to the Consumer Focus super-complaint on cash Isas, and we accept the need to ensure improvements are made to ISAs to provide savers with the service standards for which the OFT is calling.

“The industry has committed to make further improvements to the cash ISA transfer process and to the transparency of cash ISAs.

The OFT report includes a number of commitments by BSA members:
. to reduce the maximum time for cash ISA transfers from 23 working days to 15 working days and to introduce reporting arrangements that will underpin this
. to require the new ISA provider to pay interest from two days following receipt of transfer documentation and payment from the ceding provider
. to consider the feasibility of a fully electronic system of transfers
. in addition, the BSA has produced a consumer friendly guide to ISA transfers that will be available on our website from today
. to put current interest rates on cash ISA statements in time for the 2012 ISA season.”

~ Ends ~

1. The Building Societies Association (BSA) represents mutual lenders and deposit takers in the UK including all 50 UK building societies. Mutual lenders and deposit takers have total assets of over £370 billion and, together with their subsidiaries, hold residential mortgages of over £235 billion, 19% of the total outstanding in the UK. They hold almost £250 billion of retail deposits, accounting for just under 22% of all such deposits in the UK. Mutual deposit takers account for about 36% of cash ISA balances. They employ approximately 50,000 full and part-time staff and operate through approximately 2,000 branches.

2. Photographs of Adrian Coles are available from the BSA press office, or from the Association’s website at www.bsa.org.uk or Headlinemoney www.headlinemoney.co.uk

3. A copy of the consumer friendly guide to ISA transfers is available on the BSA website here –
“>www.bsa.org.uk/consumer/factsheets/cash_isa_transfers.pdf

4. Contact:
Fiona Cornes – 020 7520 5926 / fiona.cornes@bsa.org.uk
Rachel Le Brocq – 020 7520 5905 / rachel.lebrocq@bsa.org.uk

Katie Errington
Policy and External Affairs Officer
Building Societies Association
6th Floor, York House
23 Kingsway
London
WC2B 6UJ

Tel: 020 7520 5904
Fax: 020 7240 5290
Email: katie.errington@bsa.org.uk
Web: www.bsa.org.uk