Metro Bank has taken top spot in an
official survey of customers' satisfaction with their banks, with the Royal Bank
of Scotland ranked bottom. First Direct, who previously held the top spot have
moved down into second place.
The rankings are published every six
months by the UK's competition body. Banks must prominently display the results
in branches, on websites and apps, with the aim to encourage competition on
customer service. The rankings are drawn from the views of 16,000 people (1,000
from each bank), who were asked how likely they would be to recommend their
account provider to friends and family.
For personal banking, Metro Bank -
which started operating in the UK in 2010 - was the most popular. An incredible
83% of Metro Bank’s personal customers said they would recommend the bank to
their family and friends. Despite a difficult few months in terms of its share
price, but was second in the customer satisfaction ratings six months ago and
has now taken top spot.
A Metro Bank spokesman said: "Our
offering is simple. We believe in providing the very best in service and
convenience for both consumers and businesses, and this latest set of results
speaks for itself."
The Royal Bank of Scotland was bottom
of the 16 banks on the list. On the day that its parent company RBS announced a
doubling in annual profits, the survey revealed that fewer than half (47%) of
Royal Bank of Scotland personal current account customers said they would
recommend the bank.
Among the various categories, TSB (which
suffered a major IT failure that led to the departure of its chief executive
last year) finished bottom of online and mobile banking services. Clydesdale
Bank was bottom on the ranking of overdraft services. HSBC-owned First Direct (which has no branches at all) was top of both these categories.
What about business banking?
Nearly 20,000 small businesses were
also asked about customer service at banks, resulting in a ranking of 14 banks.
Handelsbanken from Sweden was ranked top for business banking with an 85%
satisfaction rating, and a particularly strong showing in the relationship and
account management category (91%). Metro Bank was second and Santander was third.
Again TSB were judged poorly, and were bottom of the list of business banks.
Andrea Coscelli, chief executive of
the Competition and Markets Authority, which published the results, said:
"We introduced this survey last August so that people can see exactly how
well banks are treating their customers. If people are unhappy with the
customer service they are currently getting, I would encourage them to look at
the results and think about switching to a better performing bank."
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