Best Rate savings accounts Customer satisfaction
The top performers
First Direct (77%) and The Co-operative Bank (68%) are the clear winners in our survey, combining high levels of customer satisfaction with the likelihood of being recommended to a friend by account holders.
These companies were also among the top performers in the 2011 Which? current account customer satisfaction survey.
Room for improvement
Santander (formerly Abbey) (38%), one of the largest providers of savings accounts in our survey, did pretty poorly, having also come bottom in our survey last year.
All in all, the results make poor reading for members of the big banking groups. Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds TSB, Barclays, NatWest, and Royal Bank of Scotland all scored below average for customer satisfaction.
| Customer satisfaction for savings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Provider | Internet | Telephone | Customer Score |
| First Direct |  | | 77% |
| Co-operative Bank |  | | 68% |
| Coventry BS | |  | 63% |
| Aldermore Bank | n/a | n/a | 62% |
| Yorkshire BS | | | 62% |
| Leeds BS | n/a | n/a | 62% |
| Principality BS | | n/a | 62% |
| Barnsley BS | | n/a | 62% |
| National Savings & Investments (NS&I) | | | 60% |
| AA | | n/a | 60% |
| Saga | | | 60% |
| Nationwide BS | |  | 59% |
| Yorkshire Bank | n/a | n/a | 59% |
| Dunfermline BS | n/a | n/a | 58% |
| Marks & Spencer Money | | | 57% |
| Newcastle BS | | n/a | 56% |
| Intelligent Finance | | | 56% |
| Tesco Bank | | | 55% |
| ING Direct | | | 55% |
| Derbyshire BS | | n/a | 54% |
| Skipton BS | | n/a | 54% |
| ICICI Bank UK | | n/a | 54% |
| BM Savings (Birmingham Midshires) | | | 54% |
| Northern Rock | | | 53% |
| Sainsbury's Finance | | | 52% |
| Britannia | n/a | n/a | 52% |
| Clydesdale Bank | | n/a | 52% |
| Krbs (Kent Reliance BS) | | n/a | 51% |
| Post Office | | n/a | 51% |
| Chelsea BS | n/a | n/a | 51% |
| West Bromwich BS | n/a | n/a | 51% |
| Scottish Widows Bank | | | 50% |
| HSBC | | | 50% |
| Egg | | | 49% |
| NatWest | | | 49% |
| Lloyds TSB | | | 48% |
| Cheltenham & Gloucester | n/a | | 48% |
| Barclays | | | 47% |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | | | 46% |
| Standard Life Bank | | | 46% |
| Cahoot | | n/a | 45% |
| Halifax | | | 44% |
| Bank of Scotland | | | 44% |
| Santander | | | 38% |
Table notes
n/a = sample size too small
Average overall customer satisfaction score is 53%
Sample sizes: First Direct (596), Co-operative Bank (201), Coventry BS (307), Aldermore Bank (38), Yorkshire BS (296), Leeds BS (85), Principality BS (127), Barnsley BS (53), National Savings & Investments (259), AA (111), Saga (119), Nationwide (2,433), Yorkshire Bank (44), Dunfermline BS (44), Marks & Spencer Money (115), Newcastle BS (56), Intelligent Finance (154), Tesco Bank (230), ING Direct (310, Derbyshire BS (52), Skipton BS (140), ICICI Bank UK (62), BM Savings (Birmingham Midshires) (225), Northern Rock (245), Sainsbury's Finance (101), Britannia (167), Clydesdale Bank (55), Krbs (Kent Reliance BS) (93), Post Office (259), Chelsea BS (86), West Bromwich BS (56), Scottish Widows Bank (85), HSBC (524), Egg (130), NatWest (757), Lloyds TSB (918), Cheltenham & Gloucester (109), Barclays (686), Royal Bank of Scotland (251), Standard Life Bank (79), Cahoot (38), Halifax (1,160), Bank of Scotland (201), Santander (1387). Total sample size: 14,374
Our research
In May and December 2011 we surveyed 14,477 members of the Which? community about their savings accounts.
The table below shows which of the 44 savings account providers that we were able to rate have the most – and least – satisfied customers.
There's a big difference between the best and the worst: the top-rated provider has a customer satisfaction score of 77%, while the worst performer gets only 38%.
Overall customer scores are worked out using a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely members are to recommend their bank to a friend. Companies need at least 30 responses to be given a rating.
- For a personalised solution, call our experts on the Money Helpline
- For information on tax on savings and investments, take a look at our guide
- For an alternative to savings accounts, see our cash Isa Recommended Providers
