Trust in banks dives but satisfaction is on the rise
Customer’s trust in their bank plummets** as the [Uswitch.com](https://www.uswitch.com/current-accounts/awards/) Current Account Awards are announced** **– but overall satisfaction is on the rise**
Big high street banks rooted to the bottom of the table for customer satisfaction**** with **RBS taking the wooden spoonfor the third time in four years**
First Direct sweeps the board, picking up ten awards**** with Nationwide Building Society scoops remaining two****
HSBC narrowly avoids a second successive year in last spot overall but comes last in most categories – seven out of twelve categories
Current account holders remain unimpressed with rewards on offer from their banks****.
Over the past year, customers’ trust in their banks has taken a rapid nose dive according to the latest Current Account Awards announced by Uswitch.com, the price comparison and switching service. However, at the same time, the overall satisfaction of customer’s day-to-day dealings with their banks is on the increase.
This loss of confidence has seen the trust ratings for every single bank slip when compared to the previous awards. The worst offender, RBS, saw trust fall by a third (64% to 42%), at the other end of the spectrum, Nationwide had the smallest drop with just a 7% dip in customer trust.
While trust fell, overall satisfaction is on the rise with ratings for almost every provider improving, highlighting that customers feel their banks are getting it right in the day to day services they provide. Despite this, there is a clear divide between the service provided by the main high street banks compared to the smaller competitors and building societies, with the latter consistently outperforming the former.
The overall winner, First Direct, claimed top spot for the second year in a row and was ranked number one in ten out of a possible twelve categories, including winning the award for Best Overall Customer Service and Best Switching Service. First Direct didn’t have it all its own way though and failed to impress customers when it comes to rewards, coming eighth in the Best Rewards category.
While Frist Direct once again impressed, its parent bank, HSBC, was ranked bottom in the most categories (seven in total), including all of the customer service awards (branch, phone, online and overall). Highlighting that putting customers first really does make a difference.
Nationwide came second overall, and is the outright winner for Best Rewards as well as Best – Branch Customer Service. The building society again showed it care for customers, placing second in nine awards.
The results reveal a disparity between customer satisfaction for online services and personal interaction with banks over the phone or in branch. Online services scored a higher combined average satisfaction rating of 63% compared to face-to-face services which only averaged 52%. Online customer service was also the most impressive category of the awards with every provider improving their ratings.
The award which saw banks perform worst in was the Best Rewards category, with an average rating of just 30% across all the awards. This is likely to be linked to the reduction in rewards on offer over the last year, with the likes of Santander, Halifax, Lloyds and TSB all cutting back on the perks offered to customers.
Tashema Jackson, money expert at Uswitch.com, says: “The fact that we have seen this alarming dip in trust, compared to the increase in overall customer satisfaction, shows that customers’ relationships with their banks is a marriage of convenience rather than one of romance.
“This decline in customer trust is definitely of concern and something that needs to be addressed by all the banks sooner rather than later if they wish to retain their customers, especially with the challenger banks continuing to go from strength to strength. With some of the better-known banks having fared the worst in this category, it’s safe to say they have the most work to do to regain their customers’ trust.
“We have seen how First Direct and Nationwide consistently get their act, demonstrating the importance of delivering great customer service all the time. The main task for the big players is to provide customers with an all-encompassing high standard of service that meets the needs of the modern-day customer, or risk falling even further behind. Likewise, customers seem to want something more in return than the banks currently offer as a reward for giving them their business.”
Find out how you could save over £1,000 a year with Uswitch here.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
Jacinta Bonus
Phone: 020 3893 8391
Email: jacinta.bonus@uswitch.com
Twitter: @uswitchPR
Notes to editors
All research referred to was conducted online by Opinium from 10th August 2017 to 14th August 2017 among 10,001 current account holders. All figures are based on Uswitch.com analysis. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all UK adults aged 18+. Last year’s results were based on research conducted online by CensusWide from 9th August 2016 to 9th September 2016 among 10,038 current account holders.
In the Most Trusted award category, every provider had a decrease in their satisfaction rating. See full results tables below.
Overall satisfaction has improved with all providers either increasing or maintaining their rating in 2017 from 2016.
None of the high street banks – RBS, Lloyds, Barclays and HSBC – came out on top for any categories. See full results tables below.
RBS came 12th in the Overall Satisfaction category in 2017, after also placing last in 2016, 2015 and 2014. RBS also came last in fourth other categories; Best Current Account, Value for Money, Most Trusted and Best Switching Service. See full results tables for 2017 below and previous year’s results tables at the bottom of the respective releases – 2016, 2015 and 2014.
First Direct has come first in ten out of 12 categories in 2017; Best Current Account, Overall Satisfaction, Most Trusted, Value for Money, Best Customer Service (Overall), Best Customer Service (Phone), Best Customer Service (Online), Best Switching Service, Best Online Service and Best App. See full results table below. It is also the second year First Direct has won ten our of 12 awards - see 2016 release and results table.
Nationwide won two awards; Best Rewards and Best Customer Service (Branch). Nationwide came in second place for nine awards; Best Current Account, Overall Satisfaction, Most Trusted, Value for Money, Best Customer Service (Overall), Best Customer Service (Online), Best Switching Service, Best Online Service and Best App. See full results table below.
HSBC placed at the bottom of the table for the following awards in 2017; Best Rewards, Best Customer Service (Overall), Best Customer Service (Phone), Best Customer Service (Branch), Best Customer Service (Online), Best Online Service and Best App. See full results tables below. It is the second year that HSBC has been at the bottom of the table for Best Online Service – see 2016 release results tables.
Average of satisfaction results in 2017 for the Best Rewards category is 30% (sum of all scores divided by the sum of respondents). This is the lowest average of satisfaction results for any category in 2017 (average of satisfaction results for each category calculated as the sum of all scores divided by the sum of respondents).
In 2016 RBS scored a satisfaction rating of 64% which dropped 22% to 42% in 2017. Nationwide scored 83% in 2016 compared to 76% in 2017 which is a 7% decrease in satisfaction. See full results tables below.
First Direct came in at number 8 for Best rewards. See full results table below.
In 2016 First Direct scored 73% in the Best Current Account award and Nationwide scored 66% (a 7% difference). In 2017 First Direct scored 70% in the Best Current Account award and Nationwide scored 68% (2% difference). See full results tables below.
Interaction comparison calculated by sum of all scores divided by the sum of respondents for digital categories (Best Customer Service (Online) + Best Online Customer Service + Best App) and personal-contact categories (Best Customer Service (Phone) + Best Customer Service (Branch)).
There was an increase in satisfaction ratings for all providers in 2017 compared to 2016 for Best Customer Service (Online). See full results tables below.
Santander, Halifax, Lloyds and TSB all announced cuts to their current account rewards at the end of 2016 which came into effect in early 2017 - https://www.ft.com/content/c57d9d92-9127-11e6-a72e-b428cb934b78.
Questions asked for each award as per below table:
| Award Category | Survey Questions / Award Calculations | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Best Current Account | Based on Uswitch.com analysis of overall satisfaction ratings across all categories. | ||
| Overall Satisfaction | Overall, how satisfied are you with your main current account provider? Please consider all the factors, including customer service, rates and charges, billing, range of services, everything. | ||
| Most Trusted | How much do you trust your main current account provider? | ||
| Value for Money | Taking account of everything your current account provides along with its rates, charges, service and technology, how satisfied are you with the value for money you receive from your main current account? | ||
| Best Rewards | How satisfied are you with the extras (e.g. gadget insurance, travel insurance, airport lounge access vouchers, rewards etc...) offered by your MAIN current account provider? Please consider the size of the benefits/incentives and the ease of claiming them. | ||
| Best Customer Service (Overall) | Sum of all customer service categories that follows. | ||
| Best customer Service (Phone) | Overall how satisfied are you with each the different customer service types you've received from your main current account provider? Please consider all the factors that contribute to service in this area, such as the length of time to communicate, having helpful staff effective with dealing with your issue. - Phone | ||
| Best customer Service (Branch) | Overall how satisfied are you with each the different customer service types you've received from your main current account provider? Please consider all the factors that contribute to service in this area, such as the length of time to communicate, having helpful staff effective with dealing with your issue. - Branch | ||
| Best customer Service (Online) | Overall how satisfied are you with each the different customer service types you've received from your main current account provider? Please consider all the factors that contribute to service in this area, such as the length of time to communicate, having helpful staff effective with dealing with your issue. - Online | ||
| Best Switching Service | Respondents who has switched their main current account in the last four years, were asked - How satisfied were you with the in-house switching team at your main current account provider? | ||
| Best Online Service | How satisfied are you with the online banking service offered by your main current account provider? Think about the desktop/laptop/tablet/mobile browser service, do not include apps. Please consider all factors including the ease of use, range and quality of the services available, reliability, everything. | ||
| Best App | How satisfied are you with the online banking app offered by your main current account provider? Think about the tablet/mobile app service, do not include the browser service. Please consider all factors including the ease of use, range and quality of the services available, reliability, everything. |
Full list of winners and runner ups across all categories:
| Award Category | Winner | Runner Up | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best Current Account | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Overall Satisfaction | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Most Trusted | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Best Customer Service (Branch) | Nationwide | TSB | ||
| Best Customer Service (Phone) | First Direct | Co-operative Bank | ||
| Best Customer Service (Online) | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Best Customer Service (Overall) | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Value for Money | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Best Switching Service | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Best Online Service | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Best App | First Direct | Nationwide | ||
| Best Rewards | Nationwide | TSB |
Top 12 award category findings below:
| Best Current Account | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 70% | 73% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 68% | 66% | ||
| 3 | Co-operative Bank | 61% | 62% | ||
| 4 | TSB | 59% | 62% | ||
| 5 | Halifax | 59% | 58% | ||
| 6 | Santander | 59% | 57% | ||
| 7 | Lloyds | 58% | 57% | ||
| 8 | Bank of Scotland | 56% | 59% | ||
| 9 | Barclays | 56% | 56% | ||
| 10 | NatWest | 55% | 56% | ||
| 11 | HSBC | 50% | 52% | ||
| 12 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 49% | 53% | ||
| Overall Satisfaction | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 82% | 78% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 75% | 69% | ||
| 3 | Co-operative Bank | 68% | 62% | ||
| 4 | TSB | 65% | 60% | ||
| 5 | Santander | 63% | 54% | ||
| 6 | Halifax | 63% | 57% | ||
| 7 | Barclays | 60% | 52% | ||
| 8 | Lloyds | 60% | 55% | ||
| 9 | NatWest | 57% | 52% | ||
| 10 | Bank of Scotland | 56% | 54% | ||
| 11 | HSBC | 55% | 51% | ||
| 12 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 49% | 49% | ||
| Most Trusted | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 76% | 87% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 76% | 83% | ||
| 3 | Co-operative Bank | 67% | 81% | ||
| 4 | TSB | 64% | 76% | ||
| 5 | Halifax | 62% | 73% | ||
| 6 | Lloyds | 59% | 73% | ||
| 7 | Santander | 58% | 72% | ||
| 8 | Barclays | 57% | 72% | ||
| 9 | HSBC | 57% | 73% | ||
| 10 | NatWest | 56% | 70% | ||
| 11 | Bank of Scotland | 54% | 74% | ||
| 12 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 42% | 64% | ||
| Best Customer Service (Branch) | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | Nationwide | 72% | 65% | ||
| 2 | TSB | 65% | 63% | ||
| 3 | Santander | 62% | 57% | ||
| 4 | Halifax | 60% | 56% | ||
| 5 | Lloyds | 59% | 58% | ||
| 6 | Co-operative Bank | 57% | 61% | ||
| 7 | Bank of Scotland | 56% | 58% | ||
| 8 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 56% | 55% | ||
| 9 | NatWest | 56% | 57% | ||
| 10 | Barclays | 54% | 54% | ||
| 11 | HSBC | 53% | 53% | ||
| 12 | First Direct | N/A | N/A | ||
| Best Customer Service (Phone) | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 79% | 83% | ||
| 2 | Co-operative Bank | 67% | 65% | ||
| 3 | Nationwide | 60% | 57% | ||
| 4 | Bank of Scotland | 56% | 51% | ||
| 5 | Halifax | 53% | 51% | ||
| 6 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 52% | 49% | ||
| 7 | Santander | 52% | 49% | ||
| 8 | TSB | 51% | 53% | ||
| 9 | Lloyds | 50% | 48% | ||
| 10 | Barclays | 48% | 44% | ||
| 11 | NatWest | 46% | 49% | ||
| 12 | HSBC | 45% | 41% | ||
| Best Customer Service (Online) | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 78% | 76% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 75% | 70% | ||
| 3 | Lloyds | 70% | 61% | ||
| 4 | Santander | 70% | 62% | ||
| 5 | Co-operative Bank | 69% | 64% | ||
| 6 | TSB | 68% | 64% | ||
| 7 | Halifax | 68% | 59% | ||
| 8 | Bank of Scotland | 67% | 61% | ||
| 9 | Barclays | 65% | 58% | ||
| 10 | NatWest | 65% | 59% | ||
| 11 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 64% | 58% | ||
| 12 | HSBC | 60% | 52% | ||
| Best Customer Service (Overall) | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 71% | 73% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 68% | 64% | ||
| 3 | Co-operative Bank | 61% | 63% | ||
| 4 | Santander | 61% | 56% | ||
| 5 | Halifax | 61% | 55% | ||
| 6 | Lloyds | 61% | 56% | ||
| 7 | Bank of Scotland | 59% | 57% | ||
| 8 | TSB | 59% | 60% | ||
| 9 | NatWest | 58% | 55% | ||
| 10 | Barclays | 58% | 52% | ||
| 11 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 57% | 54% | ||
| 12 | HSBC | 51% | 49% | ||
| Value for Money | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 69% | 72% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 64% | 63% | ||
| 3 | Co-operative Bank | 61% | 61% | ||
| 4 | TSB | 57% | 53% | ||
| 5 | Santander | 50% | 50% | ||
| 6 | Barclays | 49% | 49% | ||
| 7 | Halifax | 48% | 51% | ||
| 8 | Lloyds | 47% | 50% | ||
| 9 | HSBC | 46% | 48% | ||
| 10 | Bank of Scotland | 44% | 53% | ||
| 11 | NatWest | 44% | 49% | ||
| 12 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 37% | 44% | ||
| Best Switching Service | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 74% | 82% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 66% | 67% | ||
| 3 | TSB | 64% | 68% | ||
| 4 | Halifax | 63% | 61% | ||
| 5 | Santander | 63% | 61% | ||
| 6 | Co-operative Bank | 63% | 61% | ||
| 7 | Bank of Scotland | 59% | 62% | ||
| 8 | NatWest | 49% | 58% | ||
| 9 | HSBC | 48% | 54% | ||
| 10 | Barclays | 47% | 58% | ||
| 11 | Lloyds | 47% | 56% | ||
| 12 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 36% | 54% | ||
| Best Online Service | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 80% | 82% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 78% | 76% | ||
| 3 | Halifax | 72% | 67% | ||
| 4 | Lloyds | 72% | 68% | ||
| 5 | Co-operative Bank | 72% | 72% | ||
| 6 | Santander | 71% | 67% | ||
| 7 | TSB | 70% | 73% | ||
| 8 | Barclays | 68% | 65% | ||
| 9 | NatWest | 68% | 66% | ||
| 10 | Bank of Scotland | 68% | 67% | ||
| 11 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 62% | 63% | ||
| 12 | HSBC | 61% | 62% | ||
| Best App | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | First Direct | 74% | 76% | ||
| 2 | Nationwide | 72% | 73% | ||
| 3 | Lloyds | 69% | 68% | ||
| 4 | NatWest | 68% | 70% | ||
| 5 | Halifax | 67% | 71% | ||
| 6 | Santander | 66% | 68% | ||
| 7 | Barclays | 65% | 72% | ||
| 8 | Bank of Scotland | 65% | 71% | ||
| 9 | Co-operative Bank | 62% | 67% | ||
| 10 | TSB | 60% | 70% | ||
| 11 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 59% | 69% | ||
| 12 | HSBC | 55% | 58% | ||
| Best Rewards | |||||
| Rank | Provider | 2017 Score | 2016 Score | ||
| 1 | Nationwide | 47% | 39% | ||
| 2 | TSB | 39% | 37% | ||
| 3 | Lloyds | 35% | 31% | ||
| 4 | Barclays | 32% | 34% | ||
| 5 | Bank of Scotland | 31% | 37% | ||
| 6 | Halifax | 29% | 37% | ||
| 7 | Co-operative Bank | 28% | 29% | ||
| 8 | First Direct | 27% | 28% | ||
| 9 | NatWest | 27% | 29% | ||
| 10 | Santander | 26% | 34% | ||
| 11 | Royal Bank of Scotland | 24% | 27% | ||
| 12 | HSBC | 19% | 28% |
About us
It’s all about “U”!
Thank you for indulging us over the last 20 years by using a small ‘u’ and a big ‘S’ when writing about our brand in your articles.
We are delighted to let you know that you are now off the hook - it’s big U’s all the way (and small s’s) as we undertake our biggest ever rebrand - so let your autocorrect go wild!
About Uswitch
Uswitch is the UK’s top comparison website for home services switching. Launched in September 2000, we help consumers save money on their gas, electricity, broadband, mobile, TV, and financial services products and get more of what matters to them. Last year we saved consumers over £373 million on their energy bills alone.
Uswitch is part of RVU, a new business that also owns Money.co.uk and Bankrate.
If you would no longer like to receive our press releases please email prteam@uswitch.com with 'unsubscribe'.