UK banks quizzed over 'measly' saving rates offered to customers 

"Savings rates have increased and we always encourage people to shop around," said a spokesperson for bank lobby group UK Finance.

Bank of England: The British base rate was raised to 5% on June 22, the highest since 2008. Picture: Alan Hamilton

British banks faced fresh criticism for the savings rates they offer to cash-strapped customers, in the latest intervention by the UK parliament's influential treasury select committee.

The committee said it had written to the country's so-called Big Four banks — Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, and NatWest — asking if they believed their savings rates provided "fair value" and if customer inertia, or reluctance to change accounts, was being exploited.