RBS rated Britain’s worst banking service while First Direct tops personal rankings

ROYAL Bank of Scotland offers the worst banking service in Britain, according to customer league tables published by regulators for the first time to encourage customers to switch.

Fewer than half of the bank’s personal and business customers would recommend the service to others – at 49pc and 47pc – the surveys found.

Hsbc-owned First Direct topped the personal banking table, with 85pc of customers likely to recommend the bank. Sweden-based Handelsbanken led the business rankings with 84pc approval. Lenders must publish the rankings online and within branches to comply with competition rules.

The survey results are a blow to RBS, which is still majority-owned by taxpayers and is struggling to rebuild its reputation following years of scandals. RBS suffered further revelations on Tuesday, after the US Department of Justice published the details of a $4.9bn (£3.8bn) settlement over the bank’s past mis-selling of toxic mortgage products. Despite the major fine, it came in below City expectations, allowing RBS to confirm its first interim dividend in a decade at 2p.

Separately, TSB is recruiting hundreds of additional staff to tackle a backlog of complaints caused by its IT meltdown earlier this year. The lender already has a team of 260 people handling complaints, but this could reach as many as 500 in coming months.