Guidance

Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) banking undertakings

The Undertakings limit the bundling of loans and deposit accounts with business current accounts for SME customers.

From:
Competition and Markets Authority
Published
18 July 2002
Last updated
2 April 2025 — See all updates

Documents

SME 2002 undertakings (behavioural)

PDF, 164 KB, 22 pages

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(Released in 2016) SME banks transitional undertakings

PDF, 2.71 MB, 10 pages

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(Released in 2016) SME banking undertakings 2003 (switching)

PDF, 102 KB, 15 pages

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Details

2 April 2025: The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on a review of those provisions within the SME Banking Behavioural Undertakings 2002 which remain in force.

Find out more about the consultation and how to respond

Undertakings released

9 August 2016: following a formal remedy review process, the CMA released the:

  • switching undertakings

  • transitional undertakings (including relevant clauses within the behavioural undertakings)

  • clauses within the behavioural undertakings that relate to portable credit history and transparency

The CMA decided to retain the bundling clauses in the behavioural undertakings (paragraphs 17 to 20), which prohibit the signatory banks from compelling a customer to open or maintain a business current account (BCA) alongside their loan or deposit account.

Description of the undertakings

These undertakings were given under the monopoly provisions of the Fair Trading Act 1973. They were signed by the UK’s leading banks and require them to:

  • ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can open a deposit account without also needing to open a BCA

  • publish details of their tariffs

  • meet time targets for account switching services

Updates to this page

Published 18 July 2002
Last updated 2 April 2025 + show all updates

  1. SME Banking Undertakings 2002 consultation launched.

  2. First published.

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