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Independent service quality survey results

Business current accounts

As part of a regulatory requirement, an independent survey was conducted to ask customers (approximately 1,200 in Great Britain and approximately 600 in Northern Ireland) of each of the largest business current account providers (16 in Great Britain and 5 in Northern Ireland) if they would recommend their provider to other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The results represent the view of customers who took part in the survey.

Great Britain Results
Northern Ireland Results

Great Britain

Business current accounts - published February 2025

As part of a regulatory requirement, an independent survey was conducted to ask approximately 1,200 customers of each of the 16 largest business current account providers if they would recommend their provider to other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs*). The results represent the view of customers who took part in the survey.

Overall service quality

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.

Overall service quality scores from customers in Great Britain who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Monzo, 85%; 2 Starling Bank, 82%; 3 Handelsbanken, 77%; 4 Tide, 75%; 5 Zemplar Bank, 69%; 8 Santander, 60%

Online and mobile banking services

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s online and mobile banking services to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Great Britain who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's online and mobile banking services to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Monzo, 88%; 2 Starling Bank, 86%; 3 Tide, 77%; 4 Zemplar Bank, 75%; 5 NatWest, 70%; 9 Santander, 66%.

SME overdraft and loan services

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s SME overdraft and loan services to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Great Britain who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's SME overdraft and loan services to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Handelsbanken, 68%; 2 Metro Bank, 61%; 3 Santander, 60%; 4 Virgin Money, 58%; 5 Royal Bank of Scotland, 56%

Relationship/account management

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s relationship/account management to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Great Britain who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's relationship/account management scores to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Handelsbanken, 85%; 2 Monzo, 77%; 3 Starling Bank, 76%; 4 Metro Bank, 65%; 4 Tide, 65%; 13 Santander, 53%

Service in branches and business centres

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s branch and business centre services to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Great Britain who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's branch and business centre services to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Handelsbanken, 72%; 2 Metro Bank, 69%; 3 Lloyds Bank, 56%; 4 Virgin Money, 54%; 5 Bank of Scotland, 52%; 7 Santander, 50%

These results are from an independent survey carried out between January 2024 and December 2024 by BVA BDRC as part of a regulatory requirement.

Santander has published this information at the request of the Competition and Markets Authority so you can compare the quality of service from business current account providers. In providing this information, we are not giving you any advice or making any recommendation to you and we can only give you information about our own products and services.

SME customers with business current accounts were asked how likely they would be to recommend their provider, their provider’s online and mobile banking services, services in branches and business centres, SME overdraft and loan services and relationship/account management services to other SMEs.

The results show the proportion of customers of each provider, among those who took part in the survey, who said they were 'extremely likely' or 'very likely' to recommend each service.

Participating providers: Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Handelsbanken, HSBC UK, Lloyds Bank, Monzo, Metro Bank, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander UK, Starling Bank, Tide, The Co-operative Bank, TSB, Virgin Money and Zempler Bank**.

Approximately 1,200 customers a year are surveyed across Great Britain for each provider; results are only published where at least 100 customers have provided an eligible score for that service in the survey period.

19,400 people were surveyed in total.

Results are updated every six months, in August and February.

*SMEs include businesses, clubs, charities and societies with an annual turnover/income of up to £25m (exclusive of VAT and other turnover-related taxes).

**Interviews with customers of Cashplus Bank are reported as Zempler Bank.

To find out more visit: BVA-BDRC.com/business-banking-service-quality

 

Northern Ireland

Business current accounts - published February 2025

As part of a regulatory requirement, an independent survey was conducted to ask approximately 600 customers of each of the 5 largest business current account providers if they would recommend their provider to other small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs*). The results represent the view of customers who took part in the survey.

Overall service quality

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs.

Overall service quality scores from customers in Northern Ireland who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their business current account provider to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Santander, 65%; 2 Danske Bank, 59%; 3 Ulster Bank, 54%; 4 Bank of Ireland UK, 46%; 5 AIB, 45%

Online and mobile banking services

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s online and mobile banking services to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Northern Ireland who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's online and mobile banking services to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Santander, 69%; 2 Danske Bank, 67%; 3 Ulster Bank, 66%; 4 AIB, 54%; 4 Bank of Ireland UK, 51%

SME overdraft and loan services

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s SME overdraft and loan services to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Northern Ireland who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's SME overdraft and loan services to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Santander, 55%; 1 Danske Bank, 55%; 3 Ulster Bank, 52%; 4 Bank of Ireland UK, 44%; 5 AIB, 42%

Relationship/account management

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s relationship/account management to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Northern Ireland who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's relationship/account management to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Danske Bank, 66%; 2 Santander, 60%; 3 Ulster Bank, 53%; 4 AIB, 46%; Bank of Ireland UK, 46%

Service in branches and business centres

We asked customers how likely they would be to recommend their provider’s branch and business centre services to other SMEs.

Scores from customers in Northern Ireland who were asked how likely they'd be to recommend their provider's business centre services to other SMEs. Rankings: 1 Santander, 57%; 2 Danske Bank, 56%; 3 Ulster Bank, 52%; 4 Bank of Ireland UK, 46%; 5 AIB, 42%

These results are from an independent survey carried out between January 2024 - December 2024 by BVA BDRC as part of a regulatory requirement.

Santander has published this information at the request of the Competition and Markets Authority so you can compare the quality of service from business current account providers. In providing this information, we are not giving you any advice or making any recommendation to you and we can only give you information about our own products and services.

SME customers with business current accounts were asked how likely they would be to recommend their provider, their provider’s online and mobile banking services, services in branches and business centres, SME overdraft and loan services and relationship/account management services to other SMEs.

The results show the proportion of customers of each provider, among these who took part in the survey, who said they were ‘extremely likely’ or ‘very likely’ to recommend each service.

Participating providers: AIB, Bank of Ireland UK, Danske Bank, Santander, Ulster Bank.

Approximately 600 customers a year are surveyed across Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland for each provider; results are only published where at least 100 customers have provided an eligible score for that service in the survey period.

3,000 people were surveyed in total.

Results are updated every six months, in August and February.

*SMEs include businesses, clubs, charities and societies with an annual turnover/income of up to £25m (exclusive of VAT and other turnover-related taxes).

To find out more visit: BVA-BDRC.com/business-banking-service-quality