New research by the Reputation Institute suggests that UK banks are starting to rebuild their reputation, following the financial crisis, with a marked improvement in the last two years.
The sector has been
rated as "average" according to an online survey of 35,000 people. Its
score places it higher than the utilities sector, but lower than technology
companies.
The Nationwide
Building Society tops the list, with RBS rated lowest. The Nationwide's mutual
status and the quality of its products rated highly among respondents.
In general, the banks
have started to rebuild their reputations over the last two years, with
perceptions of products and services improving significantly.
This is despite
widespread concern among debt charities over lending policies and overdraft charges
among High Street banks (click here to see the recent article on this site
by Rachel Reeves MP that deals with this subject).
Virgin Money came second
on the Reputation Institute's ranking, followed by Halifax, Lloyds and Metro
Bank. Lloyds was one of the biggest risers since last year’s survey, with
Santander having fallen in the ranking compared with a year earlier.
REFERENCE