Advice offered at sessions is not impartial, an undercover investigation claimed to show.
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is now investigating NatWest, over complaints that its MoneySense service is not offering unbiased advice as claimed.
In promotional material for MoneySense, the bank claims that customers will receive impartial advice in purchasing financial products such as mortgages and savings accounts. However, a Which? investigation revealed last week that this was often not the case.
Unbiased advice from staff was offered in just four out of 20 sessions attended by Which? researchers. In the remainder, NatWest products were pushed, either during or after the meeting - and in six sessions, only NatWest products were mentioned.
Meanwhile, the ASA has also confirmed that it has received 15 complaints about MoneySense. These were received both from consumers and financial advisers.
Commenting on the investigation last week, Which? personal finance campaigns manager Doug Taylor had said: "This would be an invaluable service if NatWest was always actually delivering on its promise of free, impartial financial guidance. However, it is being let down by the poor standard of at least some of the service being delivered."
Results of the investigation are expected to be released by the summer, with the ASA hoping to complete its probe within a month.
