High street banks are starting to resemble ailing department stores such as House of Fraser by failing to keep up with online rivals, hedge fund tycoon Crispin Odey has said. London-based Mr Odey wrote in a letter to investors that banking was a “serial lagging sector, luring every year value investors to their deaths”. "Banks are watching all their profitable activities - foreign exchange, consumer finance, small company lending - being taken away by fintech companies and peer-to-peer lenders," he said. "This is frightening for investors because it does not make for repeatable economic growth."