As of today, the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) requires banks to publish information on survey results regarding how likely customers would be to recommend their bank and respective online and mobile banking, branch and overdraft services to a third party, that is friends, relatives or other businesses. This procedure among others was initiated by the CMA following a comprehensive investigation of the banking sector.
Moreover, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was asked by the CMA to make banks disclose further information on their performance and services in order to improve standards and simplify the process of assessing suitable banks and current account providers on behalf of consumers.
These are the key points:
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Banks are obliged to disclose specific information regarding quality of service based on an independent survey among personal and small business customers in their branches, on their websites and apps.
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Besides customer evaluation, this information is to include details of available services, contact details and relevant helplines as well as how often the bank had to report major operational and security incidents on their websites.
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In addition, the FCA will require banks to publish figures on how long it takes to open current accounts and replace debit cards from February 2019 onwards.
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Overall, it is supposed to be easier for consumers to see how their bank's quality of service compares to others and to see whether another bank has a better offer.
Adam Land, Senior Director at the CMA, said: “For the first time, people will now be able to easily compare banks on the quality of the service they provide, and so judge if they’re getting the most for their money or could do better elsewhere. This is one of the many measures – including Open Banking and overdraft text alerts – that we put in place to make banks work harder for their customers and help people shop around to find the best deals for them.”
Source: CMA
More information and the customer survey