Clause 5
4:30 pm
Jeremy Browne (Taunton, Liberal Democrat)
I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Taylor.
I urge the Economic Secretary to be cautious about giving too big a concession to the hon. Member for South Thanet. Although I accept that the account is exactly the sort of product that the Post Office could and perhaps should offer, there are two potential attractions in banks offering it. First, it would provide an incentive for people who already have bank accounts to open saving gateway accounts with their banks. Secondly, it would give people who do not fall into that category an opportunity or incentive to engage with the banking system in a way that some people on low incomes do not at present. That would be to their benefit. If they were restricted to friendly societies and the Post Office, they might not get the wider benefits—in time, as they acquired the savings habit—of engaging with the banking system in the way that the clause might give them the opportunity to do.