An investigation by the consumer organisation Which? has found evidence suggesting that bank staff are still under pressure to sell financial products, despite rules restricting the requirements necessary to take out a loan.
The ‘Big Change’ Survey, interviewing more than 500 bank staff from a range of high street banks found that 81% of staff said the pressure to make sales was the same, or higher, than before the introduction of the new rules. Two thirds of those interviewed said that they were sometimes or always encouraged to sell more products. These statistics come despite 41% of those asked feeling that there had been a decrease in incentives offered to them for meeting their sales figures.
Perhaps more alarmingly is that nearly half of staff asked said they knew of colleagues who had mis-sold financial products in order to meet their sales quota; and 40% said they were under pressure to sell a product even if the customer was not appropriate for such a financial commitment.
The result of the investigation confirms that all consumers should be aware of the difference between banks selling their own products and independent mortgage advice.
