First Direct top retail bank for customer experience

Nationwide was placed second, followed by Barclays, in the ranking from Kantar’s inaugural CX+ research, which surveyed 8,687 retail banking customers about their experiences with banks they use.

Participants were also asked about their perceptions of banks they are considering but not currently using.

The Co-Operative Bank was fourth and HSBC ranked fifth, Royal Bank of Scotland was six, Halifax and Lloyds were joint seventh place, NatWest ranked ninth and TSB Bank was 10^th.

Digital-only banks such as Monzo and Revolut were not included in the ranking, which focused on traditional banks with customer experience across multiple channels.

Kantar calculated a ‘CX+ index score’ for each brand by combining the mean customer experience (CX) performance score across five factors (clear brand purpose, empowered employees, empowered customers, lasting memories and exceptional delivery) with the ‘experience gap’. This was defined as the gap between brand promise and customer experience, identified by comparing the experience of current bank users with the perceptions of customers considering that bank.

Amy Cashman, co-chief executive, insights division, Kantar said: “It’s no longer enough for banks to simply provide a good product or service; customers want and expect a great experience with it. With challenger banks and out-of-category brands, such as Amazon, re-defining what great experience looks like, established banks ignore the signs at their peril.”