In an independent study of over 2,000 adults, 87% said they would not be happy to have their bank account or other financial products serviced by staff based in an overseas call centre. Only one in 20 (5%) said they were happy about the idea and 9 per cent had no preference.
Women are less happy about their financial affairs being dealt with overseas than men, with only one in 50 (2%) being happy about it, as opposed to 7% of men.
Regionally, concerns are highest amongst those in the North (93%) and Scotland (89%). However, even in London, where concerns were lowest, eight out of ten people (80%) would not be happy to have their finances serviced by an overseas call centre.
Older people are more concerned than younger people (88% of the over 30s and 89% of the over 50s) – but even amongst the 18 to 29s, eight out of ten (80%) are not happy at the thought of their bank account or other financial affairs being serviced from overseas.
Commenting on the results, Group Chief Executive Richard Pym said: "Whichever way you look at it, people in this country are not happy to have their bank account or other financial needs serviced from an overseas call centre."
Speaking at Alliance & Leicester’s Annual General Meeting, to be held at 7 pm on Tuesday 4 May at the company’s headquarters outside Leicester, Richard Pym will say: "We have taken a very positive line about our call centres. Research we’ve released today shows that 87% of UK banking customers want their calls to be answered in the British Isles, not overseas. That’s why we are keeping our call centres in Britain. It’s what our customers want and our staff are doing a great job."
Concerns about job losses, communication and security
There was a general concern about loss of British jobs (82%). Problems about communication (78%) also emerged strongly. Interestingly, younger people were more concerned about communication issues, with 81% of the under 30s citing this, compared to 74% of the over 50s.
Worries about the security of their personal information were mentioned by (51%) with concerns about a lower quality of service also mentioned by just under half (47%).
Richard Pym, comments: "We believe our customers want to speak to staff based here in the UK. Our call centres do a great job, and customers do have concerns about the service they receive from overseas call centres. Our relationship with customers is too important to us to put at risk by following the current fashion for ‘offshoring’."
