The 1.5m Britons who are currently shut out of the banking system will get a new lifeline in the New Year when a group of big banks offer a set of basic accounts with no frills, but no fees either.

The X audio and video call feature which was limited to Premium subscribers only is now expanding to all users of the platform, and yes, that includes the Basic or non-Premium accounts.

Banks could be forced by the regulator to introduce charges for basic current accounts in a move aimed at halting the practice of subsidising ‘free’ banking through the use of excessive ...