RBS named worst bank for customer satisfaction

Royal Bank of Scotland has been ranked bottom out of more than 30 rivals for customer satisfaction, despite pledges by the bailed out bank to improve its battered reputation.

The survey, carried out by consumer group Which? between September 2015 and January 2016, asked more than 20,000 people how satisfied they were with their current account, savings account, credit card and mortgage provider. As well as placing RBS last, the results put NatWest (which is owned by RBS) in the bottom 10 alongside Barclays, Bank of Scotland ( part of Lloyds Banking Group) and Clydesdale, which was recently listed on the stock market. Lloyds is tenth from the bottom.

Which? said the gap between RBS at the bottom and First Direct, owned by HSBC, at the top was 21 percentage points, illustrating the battle faced by the 73%-taxpayer owned bank. The consumer group published the survey as part of its campaign to encourage the Competition and Markets Authority to rethink its ongoing investigation into the banking sector. Which? is concerned the competition watchdog is too focused on encouraging customers to move between providers rather than on dealing with the way banks treat their customers and charge for overdrafts.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "It's high time the industry put its customers first, and the competition inquiry needs to ensure banks are held to account for the way they treat them.