Local Banking

Big British banks are now widely accused of damaging the economy by failing to support their customers.

In the second programme of this four-part series, Michael Robinson examines one potential solution: banks which aim to return to traditional banking values.

One of these is Handelsbanken - the second largest bank in Sweden. Britain is now its fastest-expanding market. Handelsbanken has no sales targets for loans, no computerised credit checking systems for customers, no bonuses for managers, no advertising. This bank aims do business directly between local managers and local customers.

Staff and customer satisfaction at such banks are at the top of the charts, but how far can such human-centred banking fill the gap left by the dominant British giants?