Ex-RBS directors defend PPI as a useful product for customers
PAYMENT protection insurance (PPI) was a good product for certain bank customers and was sold with the best intentions by the majority of bank staff, former bosses at RBS claimed yesterday.
Ex-UK retail boss Paul Geddes told the parliamentary commission on banking standards that the product passed “the sniff test” when he joined the bank in 2004.
“Customers were satisfied with the product, complaint rates were normal, the financial ombudsman found with the bank in 80 per cent of cases, there was a need for the product,” he said.
Yet by 2010, the FSA published updated guidance on sales which found the bank’s earlier sales practices were wrong, he said, leading to the scandal.
The former bosses added that PPI was a suitable product for those with low or uncertain incomes.