Fluro has surveyed over 2,000 Brits with a bank account to find out their priorities when choosing who to bank with. Additionally, it created a ranking of the best banks around the world for customer satisfaction. It analysed online reviews to reveal which are providing the best service overall.
Managing our finances has never been more important. It’s crucial that banks are making their online services as easy to access as possible as technology continues to evolve. But what are customers’ main priorities when choosing who to bank with? Understand which banks rank the highest overall for customer satisfaction was the aim behind the latest Fluro report.
Brits prioritise online banking services when choosing who to bank with
From additional perks to overdraft fees, there are a number of reasons we choose who to bank with. Fluro’s survey revealed that digital services are most important with 27 per cent admitting that easy to use online banking features have the most influence over their decision.
Branch availability does continue to be a key factor coming in second with 25 per cent of respondents valuing this as a contributing factor to their decision of who to bank with, followed by easy to use mobile banking services, which comes in third with 23 per cent.
70 per cent of customers are happy with their bank’s online services and features
With easy-to-use online services coming in as the number one aspect Brits consider when choosing a bank, it’s promising to see that overall, customers are satisfied with a number of digital services their bank provides.
Digital Service | % who are satisfied |
Online service features and functionality | 70% |
Mobile app features and functionality | 68% |
Mobile app customer service | 58% |
Online customer service waiting times | 50% |
Online customer service communication (e.g. ChatBots, information) | 49% |
Over two-thirds of UK bank customers are happy with the online service features offered by their bank (70 per cent). This was followed by its mobile app features (68 per cent). Over half (58 per cent) are also satisfied with their bank’s mobile app customer service. This is slightly higher than the percentage who are satisfied with their bank’s in-person customer service communication (57 per cent) and phone call communication (50 per cent).
However, when it comes to what people aren’t satisfied with, online customer service wait times (50 per cent) and communication (49 per cent) come in at the top. This makes these the areas that banks may need to target for improvement.
Digital banks dominate the top 10 list for customer satisfaction
The study also looks at Trustpilot reviews data of the world’s biggest traditional and digital banks to see how they compare. The best banks according to customer reviews include:
Rank | Bank | Type | Country HQ | Total TrustPilot reviews | Excellent, Great Reviews (%) | Bad, Poor Reviews (%) |
1 | Atom Bank | Digital | United Kingdom | 8,015 | 94% | 4% |
2 | Monzo | Digital | United Kingdom | 24,062 | 86% | 12% |
3 | Starling | Digital | United Kingdom | 32,290 | 85% | 12% |
4 | Revolut | Digital | United Kingdom | 119,500 | 85% | 12% |
5 | Anytime | Digital | France | 5,246 | 82% | 15% |
Digital vs traditional
Digital providers dominate the top 10 best banks according to customer reviews, with an average of 68 per cent of excellent or great reviews on Trustpilot. This was compared to traditional banks which had an average of just 16 per cent.
UK-based Atom Bank ranks as the number one service, with an impressive 94 per cent of all reviews rating it as ‘great’ or ‘excellent’. Fellow UK digital banks Monzo and Starling come in second, with 86 per cent and 85 per cent positive reviews respectively.
Meanwhile, all of the worst-ranking banks for customer satisfaction are traditional, further emphasising the importance of banks improving their digital offerings to continue to meet their customers’ needs.
Nick Harding, CEO of Fluro, commented on the findings:
“Online-only banks are rapidly growing in both number and popularity. The high demand for quality digital banking services will likely only continue to rise in the coming years. Operating in a purely digital space presents new challenges for customer service and satisfaction. But it’s clear many online banks are working to prioritise this area in order to keep their customers happy.
“With purely traditional banks ranking so low for customer satisfaction, this confirms the need for banks to continue to keep up with modern technology. They need to expand their digital services if they wish to attract and retain customers. It may also see the rise of customers turning to fintech companies for services previously provided by their bank.”
