Axe NatWest's MoneySense TV campaign - AMI

The Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI) is calling on advertising authorities to pull NatWest's MoneySense TV campaign.

Director general Chris Cummings says the service's promise of impartiality has been exposed as false.

It follows an investigation which suggests MoneySense advisers have been merely pushing NatWest's own products on unsuspecting consumers.

Cummings says the FSA and Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) have both asked for evidence, which he concludes is "now piling up fast".

"It is now time to do the right thing and withdraw the 'impartial' advertisements that NatWest has been running on television," he says.

"The banks have never been viewed as less trustworthy and every day seems to bring yet another reason to heap criticism on them.

"Whether the issue is one of bonuses, PPI, or this advertising campaign, it is time for those who lead these institutions to draw a line, admit their mistakes, and try to rebuild society's trust."

MoneySense was launched in 2008 by NatWest, in conjunction with parent bank Royal Bank of Scotland, with a high-profile TV advertising campaign.

The free service offers "impartial" advice to customers of NatWest and other high street banks at more than 1,000 branches nationwide.

An investigation by The Times suggested MoneySense advisers used the sessions to promote in-house savings accounts, loans and mortgages, "blurring the distinction" between impartial advice and what it calls "a hard sell".

But a NatWest spokesman said: "After a comprehensive investigation, we are satisfied that our MoneySense advisers did not offer any sales advice."