In this weeks episode of the ‘Top 5’ series, I felt it was time to explore the best banks for their customer service offerings. There are many banks out there and some of us actually make the decisions on which to choose to hold our money based on the customer service.
So I’ll get right to it, and show you who I think are the top 5 banks for customer service.
1. First Direct
Part of the bank, HSBC (owner of its banking license), customer’s experiences of customer service with First Direct are always good, year after year. the reports by Which? says accessible UK call centres have helped the telephone and internet banks.
“It’s success is down to the staff who, customers tell us, are always quick to deal with queries and act cordially”, Which? says.
While it the bank doesn’t actually offer better or competitive rates on savings accounts or mortgages, First Direct’s overall great experience puts it at the top of the charts for many. It scored 82% in Which?’s customer satisfaction survey. to help explain in more clear method, what this means, the average for the banks was 59%, and Santander scored 47%.
Cahoot is a great example of a subsidiary company outperforming its owning bank. they are owned by Santander. Cahoot was given a 68% score by Which?, whereas Santander could only manage to get a score of 47%. This is a bank that is online only.
Barclays has had its trouble in the past, but has now taken the issue at hand and is focusing on offering the best service by motivating agents. Group Chief Executive Antony Jenkins has previously said that frontline agents and employees in Barclays’ UK Retail and Business Banking division will have their variable pay – sometimes described as bonuses – based only on the quality of service they provide to customers. In past years they have placed customer service devises at each station in order to get customer feedback.
4. Smile
Online-only bank Smile is came in with excellent reviews. Its Owned by the bank Co-operative Bank, which came fourth in the rankings, it achieved a massive score of 79% for its mortgages, savings, current account and credit card products, but the thing that shined for me was the service they provide despite having no stores for customers to walk into. “Customers rave about the excellent customer service from Smile’s call centre staff, and are also impressed by the smooth functionality of its website,” Which? says. The bank launched way back in 1999 as the online brand for Co-op, famous for its ethical business policy. Smile’s current account got a score of 85% and its credit cards received 83%. they were probably tyhe pioneers in online banking, so perhaps we should all have a look a them.
5. Gobank
GoBank is designed to draw 20-something smartphone users to its online banking services. It offers great customer support because its all online. You can contact support through the website, and rate how you are feeling according to the issue. I would imagine, the more upset you are, the quicker the contact will be?
