Santander and Halifax are in the bottom two places in the latest Which? analysis of customer satisfaction ratings of 30 financial brands, scoring 46% and 48% respectively, well below the average score of 62%.
Bank of Scotland (49%), RBS (50%), Lloyds (51%), Barclays (54%), Natwest (56%) and HSBC (60%) all perform poorly too.
However, these banks dominate high-street banking, accounting for more than 80% of the current account market.
The findings come ahead of the launch of a major new Which? campaign calling for fundamental changes in banking culture to put customers first.
Savings account customers are the most unhappy with many frustrated that loyalty doesn’t seem to pay and complaining they have to check up on interest rates and switch accounts to get the best deals.
RBS has performed consistently badly in Which? surveys over the past three years and came 27 out of 30 for overall brand satisfaction this year, despite launching its customer charter two years ago to make it ‘Britain’s most helpful bank’.
Richard Lloyd, Which? executive director said: “Consumers are constantly being let down when it comes to customer service. This is not good enough, we want to see fundamental changes in the culture of banking and a return to banking for customers, not bankers.
“Our survey shows that those banks that go the extra mile to keep their customers happy are rated far higher than banks who may offer slightly better products or interest rates. All banks need to start putting customers first.”
