Best banks for customer satisfaction named - where does yours rank?

Monzo ranked top in both the personal and business current account categories when customers were asked the likelihood of recommending products to friends and family.

Last time it held first place jointly with Starling Bank, which slipped to second in both categories.

First Direct came third for personal current account holders, while Handelsbanken took bronze in the business category.

First Direct is the only bank in the top three to also feature in our Best Savings Accounts Guide, with its regular saver account currently offering 7% for a year on deposits up to £300 a month.

At the other end of the table, it was a poor story for Virgin Money, coming joint bottom of the personal current account providers alongside Royal Bank of Scotland. It also came 13th out of 15 of the business current account providers.

HSBC came bottom (15th) of the business account providers, below 14th placed Co-operative Bank. Just 42 percent of HSBC customers would recommend the bank to other SMEs. The results "put pressure on poorly performing banks to raise their game", the CMA said.

More than 16,000 adults were asked their opinions on their personal current accounts, while 18,000 business account holders were also questioned for the in-depth poll on behalf of the Competition Markets Authority.

The CMA has carried out the research every six months for the last six years to give customers more clarity on banks' quality of service.

Monzo had a satisfaction rating of 80 percent among those questioned, while Virgin Money and RBS were recommended by just 48 percent of customers questioned.

Adam Land, a senior director at the CMA, said: "How banks treat their customers can make an enormous difference to their daily lives, particularly when people and small businesses are feeling the pinch.

“These results make it easy for people to see in branch, or at the click of a button, which banks are listening to their customers and meeting their needs. This puts pressure on poorly performing banks to raise their game. If the service and quality offered by your bank has been below par, then you may well be able to do better by making a switch.”

Monzo, which has eight million customers, is an app-only bank which has proved popular with people wanting to easily track their spending. It features services including splitting your salary into pots such as bills and savings, as well as offering easy-access savings pots.

However, account switching customers have plummeted from 63,000 in 2019, to -2,079 in 2022, according to This Is Money.

Commenting on its satisfaction survey results, its vice president of operations, Lyndsey Edgar, said Monzo keeps customers "at the heart of everything we do".

RBS admitted it could "do more" to improve customer experience in certain parts of its service.

A spokesperson added: “We’re investing in dedicated teams focused on making targeted improvements for customers in order to address the areas where our service falls short of expectations.”

A spokesperson for Virgin Money said: “We remain determined to give customers the best products, rates and services to allow customers to make the most of their money.”

Best and worst personal current account providers*

*How likely customers asked would be to recommend their personal current account provider to friends and family. Source: Ipsos

Best and worst business bank account providers*

*How likely customers asked would be to recommend their business current account provider to another business. Source: BVA-BDRC

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