The arrival of competition among retail banks, one of the government’s key strategies in the financial services sector, is being held back by the amount that big banks spend on advertising, according to new entrants into the market.
The ten biggest banks by advertising spending last year laid out a total of almost £250 million on media space, according to figures compiled by Nielsen, the market research company.
Only two could be regarded as challengers and these are owned by Tesco and J Sainsbury, both well-financed public companies. None of the independent banks trying to gain a foothold on the high street are on the list and the sums involved — about £40 million, in the case of the two biggest spenders — are well