High street banks have come under more scrutiny after it was revealed that they closed the accounts of over 140,000 small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) accounts last year.
MPs on the Treasury committee found that 2.7% of business accounts were closed during last year, according to data provided to them by eight banks.
Barclays led the way in debanking the highest number of business accounts, however, it’s noted that differences in how lenders report their data make them difficult to compare.
Harriett Baldwin, chair of the committee, said: “I hope publishing this data can aid scrutiny of the decisions taken by banks and help to ensure legitimate businesses are not being unfairly treated.”
Last year, NatWest came under fire and ultimately saw its CEO leave, because its private banking arm Coutts closed an account owned by former UKIP leader Nigel Farage.
The scandal renewed focus on the banking industry's practices, causing the Financial Conduct Authority to review the issue of account access.
A recent report by the all-party parliamentary group on fair business banking pointed out that many customers are being debanked or refused facilities frequently, often without justification.