Many personal and business bank account providers in the UK have taken a beating, with customer faith and confidence falling over the past few years, according to a recent survey.
Consumer campaign group Which? conducted the survey, showing that despite the general market dominance of the large High Street banks such as Lloyds TSB and Santander, customer satisfaction levels are persistently low. Nearly thirty banks and building societies were examined by the survey in order to determine how satisfied customers were across the main services of each bank, such as mortgages and savings accounts.
The survey follows on the heels of a recent report detailing how the Financial Ombudsman Service received in excess of 50 per cent more financial service provider complaints in the first half of 2011 than it received in 2010′ s second half. The Which? survey echoed customers’ frustrations, with none of the High Street banking giants within the top fifteen.
In actuality, the survey found that the four banking providers with the most satisfied current account customers only had a combined 6 per cent market share, while 38 per cent of the market was controlled by the four banks which were the least satisfactory, according to customers.
One official from the consumer campaigner remarked that the high street continues to be dominated by banking providers with shockingly low customer satisfaction figures. The market is simply not working, the spokesperson continued, claiming that the UK banking market will never be a truly competitive one unless banks are either prepared to look after their customers properly – or are prepared to see them abscond to greener pastures for their banking needs.