The best and worst banks in the UK

Metro Bank account holders are the happiest with the service they receive, according to an an official ranking of UK banks by customer satisfaction.

Despite launching less than nine years ago, the newcomer beat off venerable high-street rivals such as Lloyds and Barclays to take the top spot, with 83% of account holders saying they would recommend Metro Bank to a friend.

First Direct came a close second, with 82% of customers of the HSBC subsidiary giving the thumbs-up. Nationwide was third, with 70%, followed by Coventry Building Society.

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At the bottom of the table was Royal Bank of Scotland, with only 47% of account holders saying they would recommend it.

The results come as RBS - which is still majority-owned by the tax payer following a bailout in 2008 - reports that its annual profits have doubled to £1.62m, up from £752m in 2017.

The survey was carried out by market research institute GfK on behalf of the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

The competition watchdog polls 1,000 customers from each of the country’s 16 leading banks every six months, asking them to rate their provider on general customer service, along with factors such as online banking and overdraft services.

“Banks must prominently display the results in branches, on websites and apps, with the aim to encourage competition on customer service,” says the BBC.

“We introduced this survey last August so that people can see exactly how well banks are treating their customers,” said CMA chief executive Andrea Coscelli.

“If people are unhappy with the customer service they are currently getting, I would encourage them to look at the results and think about switching to a better performing bank.”

Metro Bank also scored highly for business banking in a separate survey that asked small business owners to rate their experience with 14 banks. The UK newcomer came second to Sweden’s Handelsbanken.

A Metro Bank spokesperson said the company was “extremely proud” of the results of both polls.