Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Lloyds, First Direct: Bank customer satisfaction survey shows that newcomers beat Big Four
Newcomers beat out big banks for customer satisfaction, as the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has been voted worst provider again, showing it hasn’t been forgiven for recent IT glitches.
None of the Big Four claimed any of the top three spots, showing that satisfaction with big banks is way down, according to uSwitch, which polled 10,000 people on how they felt about their current account provider.
RBS was voted least favourite for the second year running, but the bank isn’t the only one struggling. The Co-operative Bank had the biggest drop in popularity, sliding in a dispiriting eight out of 12 categories, and Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC’s customer satisfaction also suffered blows.
First Direct, by contrast, was the most popular bank by far, sweeping the board winning nine out of 12 categories, including “best current account”, “most trusted” and “best customer services”.
Nicolas Frankom, money expert at uSwitch said that although value for money is important, it isn’t everything:
It’s important that the banks don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater and don’t take their eye off getting the basics right – customer service is key. Many providers still have a long way to go when it comes to delivering here.
With more challenger banks expected to shake things up even further in the future, the Big Four clearly have more to do if they want to be the big winners.
No matter what bank you have though, customers are winning, as both trust and value for money were up across the board compared to last year.