Today, BookingBug releases the first ever research into how the top 10 retail banks are creating a more competitive customer experience, and whether they are keeping up with the rest of the high street.
In a landscape transformed by clever omnichannel strategies and added value services, banks have received relatively little scrutiny compared to their retail siblings.
Sending mystery shoppers out to the branches, websites and call centres of each major bank, they were ranked on the marketing, attitude, accessibility and delivery of in-store services.
Findings of the Retail Banking Service Index include:
• The largest banks have the most work to do: Lloyds TSB, HSBC, RBS, Halifax, Nationwide and Barclays all scored less than 50% of the points on offer
• The human element was still missing: The mystery shoppers were not greeted when entering 9/10 of the banks. Only Metro Bank utilised a ‘concierge’ style approach, but they still had no information on the customers coming into branches.
• Retail banks trail behind the rest of the high street: Six out of ten banks examined took 50% or less of the points on offer. By contrast, when BookingBug looked at ordinary high street retailers in a similar report last year, every member of the top ten scored over 70%