New service information to help current account customers compare providers

From today, consumers and businesses will have access to more information than ever before about the service offered by current account providers, helping them compare different offerings more easily.

Banks, building societies and regulators have worked together to develop comprehensive information about the quality of service offered and individual financial providers will display the details on their websites and in branches. The material will feature existing customers? willingness to recommend a provider to friends and family or to other SMEs, based on factors such as their overall service quality and their online, mobile, lending and branch services.

Additional information on the help available to customers, the ability to undertake actions through different channels, operational and security incidents and complaints data will also be published by providers.

Banks and building societies are also committing to publish information in a common format highlighting the key support they offer personal and business current account customers, including those who may be experiencing characteristics of potential vulnerability. This information will be made available from November.

Eric Leenders, Managing Director of Personal Finance at UK Finance, said:

Giving consumers more information about the service personal current account providers offer will help encourage customers to shop around and find the best account to suit their needs. It will also assist in continuing to drive up service standards across the board.

As part of the finance industry's commitment to help customers in vulnerable circumstances, providers have also pledged to go further by promoting specific information on the services available to them.

Stephen Pegge, Managing Director of Commercial Finance at UK Finance, said:

Having the right financial partners and finance providers is critical to the success of a business. The new information published today includes ratings for SMEs of service through business centres and relationship management, helping businesses choose the right facilities and promoting higher standards across the market.

The publication of service quality survey results is one of the remedies from the Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) retail banking market investigation. Separately, following a recommendation from the CMA, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is requiring firms to publish objective measures of service performance. UK Finance has worked with both the CMA and FCA in delivering these requirements.

The new data will also be made available to aggregators and comparison websites through a new application programme interface (API) designed and delivered as part of the Open Banking initiative.

Ends

Notes to editor

<ol start="1" type="1"><li>For more information please call the UK Finance press office on 020 7416 6750 or email <a>press@ukfinance.org.uk</a></li>
<li>The Competition and Markets Authority?s retail banking market investigation requires providers to publish independent and objective information on their quality of service on their websites and in branches. There are four service quality indicators for personal current accounts, and five quality service indicators for business current accounts. The result of the top scorers for each indicator, plus the score of the respective bank if outside the best five providers, must be displayed prominently in a provider?s branches, on its website and within mobile banking apps. In Great Britain, the requirement relates to personal current account providers with over 150,000 active accounts and business current account providers with over 20,000 active accounts. In Northern Ireland the requirement relates to personal current account providers with over 20,000 active accounts and business current account providers with over 15,000 active accounts.</li>
<li>The Financial Conduct Authority is requiring personal and business current account providers to publish, from today, information about:</li>
</ol><ul type="disc"><li>how and when services and helplines are available</li>
<li>contact details for help, including for 24-hour helplines</li>
<li>how often the firm has had to report major operational and security incidents</li>
<li>the level of complaints made against the firm.</li>
</ul><p>From 15 February 2019:</p>
<ul type="disc"><li>how long it will take to open a current account</li>
<li>how long it will take to have a debit card replaced.</li>
</ul><p>The two surveys mandated by the Competition and Markets Authority have been performed independently by GfK (Personal Current Account customers) and BDRC (for Business Current Account customers).</p>
<ol start="3" type="1"><li>From November 2018, banks and building societies will voluntarily publish in a common form information highlighting key support they offer personal current account customers including those who may be experiencing characteristics of potential vulnerability as defined in the FCAs Approach to Consumers 2018. UK Finance and the BSA coordinated the development of this industry agreement which will further promote competition and enable consumers to compare providers on this basis.</li>
</ol><ol start="4" type="1"><li>UK Finance is the trade association formed on 1 July 2017 to represent the finance and banking industry operating in the UK. It represents around 250 firms in the UK providing credit, banking, markets and payment-related services. The organisation brings together most of the activities previously carried out by the Asset Based Finance Association, the British Bankers? Association, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, Financial Fraud Action UK, Payments UK and the UK Cards Association.</li>
</ol>