business
Banks and building societies top UK customer satisfaction index for first time
Banks and building societies scored 82.0 out of 100 on the latest UK Customer Satisfaction Index, surpassing non-food retail at 81.0 and food retail at 80.6. Nationwide Building Society led individual brands with 87.3, followed by John Lewis at 87.1.
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Banks and building societies recorded the highest sector score on the UK Customer Satisfaction Index for the first time since the survey began in 2008. The sector received 82.0 out of 100, ahead of non-food retail at 81.0 and food retail at 80.6. The Institute of Customer Service, which publishes the index twice yearly, attributed the shift to increased investment in training, technology, and adherence to the Consumer Duty standard introduced in 2023.
The standard requires financial firms to place customers at the center of product design and communications.
Individual brand rankings Nationwide Building Society received the highest individual score at 87.3. John Lewis scored 87.1 and First Direct scored 86.0. Nationwide announced in November 2025 that it would keep all branches open until at least 2030 and distributed £440 million in Fairer Share payments to 4.4 million members in May 2026.
Broader economic signals All 13 sectors tracked by the index showed year-over-year gains. The share of respondents who said they felt better off than a year earlier fell from 38 percent in January to 35 percent. Thirty-six percent said now is a bad time to buy major items, up from 31 percent in January. The survey collected responses from more than 15,000 customers between March and April.
