Will the UK banking sector ever be the same again?
While there is no doubt that the UK banking sector has been and is currently going through one of the most difficult trading periods ever known, many believe that it will soon be business as normal as and when the economy picks up. However, while business volumes may return to former levels in due course the relationship between customers and banks may well have changed forever. Customers will not forget how even after receiving billions upon billions of taxpayer funding they refused to release further capital and exacerbated a difficult situation for many UK homeowners in particular.
From the saver's point of view we have also seen a significant reduction in savings rates which is effectively giving the banks an interest-free loan of savers deposits to fund their other operations. Again, this is something which many savers will feel the effects of for years to come and likely be unwilling to forgive on a short-term basis. We've also seen the internal workings of the UK banking sector opened to the public for the first time and the massive amounts of money which flow through the system.
Whether UK banking will ever be the same again is debatable but one thing is sure, this ongoing economic downturn will never be forgotten by the banks!
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