Customer Satisfaction continues slipping caused by losses in financial sector

The National Customer Satisfaction Index drops slightly for a second straight quarter, now 72.8 on a 100-point scale. The decline is a result of an overall loss of customer satisfaction in the financial services sector.

Retail banking, mortgage lending and credit card services all show declining customer satisfaction in Q3; only home and motor insurance remains steady. Among individual companies, decliners outnumber gainers: 32% have improved NCSI scores this year, 50% decline and another 18% are unchanged.

Retail Banks:

• Customer satisfaction with the retail banking industry falls 1.4% to a score of 70.
• HSBC is still #1 among big retail banks, but customers are more satisfied with smaller banks despite less value for the money.
• RBS Group shows the biggest loss of customer satisfaction, down 3% to a score of 69, but still above HBOS and Abbey.

Mortgage Lenders:

• Consumer satisfaction is lower for mortgage lending than for any other financial service. The industry falls 1.4% to a score of 69.
• Abbey is the only mortgage lender to improve customer satisfaction, rising 8% to a score of 70.
• Nationwide remains the leader, despite dropping 4% to a score of 74.
Credit Card Providers:

• The credit card industry slips 1% to a score of 72, driven by growing displeasure with RSB and Lloyds TSB.
• Smaller credit card issuers have maintained high customer satisfaction levels despite being hit by less value just like their larger competitors.
• HSBC leads by a substantial margin with a score of 73, but Barclays is the only credit card provider to improve customer satisfaction (up 1% to 69).

Home and Motor Insurance:

• Customer satisfaction with home and motor insurance is unchanged (NCSI score of 77), far better than other financial services.
• Churchill, a bright star for RBS Group, now takes the lead (up 1% to 79), followed closely by Zurich (down 1% to 78).
• Aviva (formerly Norwich Union) improves the most (up 6% to 73), but remains last among major home and motor insurers.