The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has released its latest survey rankings, spotlighting the banks that are excelling and those that are falling short, as digital providers continue to steal the limelight from traditional high street giants. According to a survey of some 23,000 people across Britain and Northern Ireland conducted by Ipsos, JP Morgan’s Chase has now overtaken Monzo as Britain’s favorite bank for personal current accounts.
Among Britons, Chase achieved the top spot after first entering the survey six months ago, with an impressive 81% of customers stating they would be likely to recommend its account to friends and family. This figure edged out Monzo, which garnered an 80% recommendation rate in previous surveys and has long been a leading name in digital banking. Starling Bank, another prominent digital challenger founded by technology entrepreneur Anne Boden, secured third place for overall service quality, as reported by the Sun.
Notably, none of the “big four” high street banks made it into the top five rankings. In fact, Barclays placed tenth, HSBC thirteenth, Lloyds Bank sixth, and NatWest eleventh. The CMA’s survey process is mandatory for large banks and building societies, with around 1,000 customers in Britain and 500 in Northern Ireland providing feedback for each provider.
Chase UK’s chief executive Kuba Fast expressed his delight at the bank’s performance, stating:
“Our focus at Chase is on providing our customers with an exceptional experience at every opportunity, so we’re delighted to be recognized by our customers for the quality of our service.”
Launched in Britain in 2021 with the backing of its US parent company JP Morgan, Chase has rapidly grown its customer base to approximately 2.5 million.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has languished at the bottom of the key ranking for yet another year, with only 46% of customers likely to recommend its personal current account. Virgin Money narrowly avoided the last spot by ranking sixteenth, while The Co-operative Bank was slightly better placed at fifteenth.
Monzo retained its top rating for online and mobile banking services and overdraft facilities, whereas Nationwide Building Society clinched the number one spot for branch services, bolstered by its commitment to keep branches open until at least 2028. In Northern Ireland, Monzo emerged as the top bank for overall service quality, followed by Starling Bank and Nationwide.
Additional data from last month revealed that Monzo, now the UK’s seventh-largest bank with around 11 million customers, acquired over 5,000 new customers via the Current Account Switch Service between July and September last year. In contrast, RBS lost more than 5,000 current account customers over the same period.
Meanwhile, banks continue to vie for new customers with attractive cash bonuses. Currently, First Direct leads with a generous £175 welcome bonus, matched by Nationwide and contrasted by TSB’s £100 offer. The Co-operative Bank sweetens its deal with a £75 upfront bonus plus an extra £25 a month for three months. However, these deals come with strict requirements—such as depositing at least £1,000, making a minimum of five debit card payments, and logging into online or mobile banking within 45 days for First Direct’s offer—and are available only to new customers, with certain conditions excluding recent HSBC account holders.
