Monzo rated as Britain’s top bank in survey of 36,000 people

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was at the bottom of a key ranking for another year.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) published the findings of its latest survey of tens of thousands of people in Britain.

It found that digital banks continue to do better than traditional lenders when it comes to how likely customers are to recommend them to friends and family.

Monzo was voted the best provider for individuals and businesses in Britain.

Some 80% of active customers said they were likely to recommend the personal current account to friends and family, and 85% said they would recommend the business current account to other firms.

The bank, which has more than 10 million personal customers, said topping the tables “time and time again” was not something it would “ever take for granted”.

Starling Bank was again a close second in both league tables, while it came in joint first place for its overdraft services for personal customers.

For the first time, Chase entered the survey for its personal current accounts and emerged as one of Britain’s highest-rated banks.

It came third for overall service quality, with 78% of customers saying they would recommend it to others.

With the backing of its US parent company JP Morgan, Chase launched in Britain in 2021 and has since built up more than two million customers.

Monzo, Starling and Chase are all digital banks, meaning none of them operate a branch network.

Kuba Fast, Chase’s UK chief executive, said its rapid growth shows consumers are “keen to do more of their banking with newer providers”.

More than 36,000 personal and banking customers in Britain rated the quality of their bank’s services after the CMA made it compulsory for large banks to take part in the twice-yearly surveys.

High street lender RBS, which is owned by NatWest Group, again came bottom in the ranking for overall service quality for personal current accounts.

It was followed by Virgin Money and the Co-op Bank, with roughly half of customers saying they would recommend them to others as a current account provider.

A spokeswoman for Co-op Bank said it was “pleased to see increases across the majority of our scores within this survey”, and that it “strives to continually enhance our service levels”.

A spokeswoman for Virgin Money, which has agreed to be bought by Nationwide Building Society, also pointed out that its scores for both business and personal current account holders had improved since the previous iteration of the survey.

The bank said its “focus remains on driving further improvements as we know there is more work to do”.

Dan Turnball, senior director of markets at the CMA, said: “It’s important that banks listen to their customers and then provide services in a way that works for them.

“Strong competition is the most effective way to improve the customer service experience, and this survey provides the transparency that people need to be able to choose a new provider if they feel their bank is not up to scratch.”