Britons aren’t as suspicious of the UK banking sector as they’re made out to be – in fact, customers are happier here than in the rest of the world
After yesterday's Budget bonanza, here's some more good news for the UK's financial services sector: a new study has shown British customers aren't as suspicious of the financial services sector as they're made out to be. In fact, confidence among consumers in the sector is higher here than in the rest of the world.
The study, by advisory company CEB, found 36 per cent of the UK's bank customers are satisfied with the products and services on offer – more than twice the global average of 17 per cent.
People were happiest with transactional products – that's banking products such as accounts, credit cards and online services – with 60 per cent saying they were satisfied. Another 40 per cent said they were happy with general insurance products. And, perhaps most surprisingly, it was the young people who were happiest, with 41 per cent of those aged between 18 and 29 saying they felt satisfied with financial services providers.
What may also raise a few eyebrows is that it seems Britons are increasingly financially astute. A net 24 per cent said they keep to a formal budget, while 12 per cent used a financial adviser. Both those figures are higher than the global average.
Still, the report also suggested that people are also wary about banks' motivations. 44 per cent said they have "little or not confidence" in banks' abilities to keep their promises, and another 51 per cent said they didn't believe banks care about their customers. Which suggests the sector's next major challenge.