RBS finishes last in customer satisfaction league again

Nicolas Frankcom
Nicolas Frankcom, money expert at uSwitch.com

The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has finished last in a customer satisfaction league table compiled by price comparison website uSwitch.

The Edinburgh-based bank was voted the worst current account provider for a second consecutive year in terms of satisfaction, trust, online services, value for money and rewards offered.

However, the Co-operative Bank saw the biggest falls compared to last year, sliding in eight out of the twelve categories including overall satisfaction, trust and value for money.



Lloyds and Barclays both fell in seven categories, with the latter falling the furthest in overall satisfaction from fourth to tenth place.

HSBC also suffered a disappointing year, compounding the recent misery of computer glitches with the biggest fall in trust from fifth to thirteenth position in the rankings.

On the other hand, TSB saw improvements in customer service, value for money and trust – as well as rising from eighth to fourth place in the ‘Best Current Account’ category.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Bank managed to improve its scores for overall satisfaction, trust, customer service and value for money, as well as substantially improving its online service.

Nicolas Frankcom, money expert at uSwitch, said: “With savings rates still at rock bottom, current accounts are proving to be much more than an everyday bank account. People are always looking for ways to make their hard-earned cash work even harder, so it’s great that overall satisfaction with value for money is up.

“Overall improvements across the board suggest the bar is being raised, with providers like First Direct and Clydesdale ticking all the right boxes. It’s up to those losing customers to fight back. Big players in this space, such as Santander, are continuing to capitalise, while we’ve seen Barclays forced to re-think ending its rewards scheme. It’s also encouraging to see more people switching.

“However, while customers are looking for value for money, it’s important that the banks don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater and don’t take their eye off getting the basics right – customer service is key. Many providers still have a long way to go when it comes to delivering here.

“With more challenger banks expected to shake things up even further in the future, the Big Four clearly have more to do if they want to be the big winners.”

An RBS spokesperson added: “We believe we have made great progress in making RBS both simpler and fairer for our customers.”

Share icon
Share this article: