The news: In the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority’s Personal Banking Service Quality survey conducted by Ipsos, Chase UK outranked the UK’s incumbent banks—marking the fifth year in a row digital banks scored higher than traditional ones. 

The rankings: Chase, Monzo, Starling, and First Direct—all digital banks—secured the top four spots. Among the traditional incumbents, Nationwide ranked the highest in fifth place, though it ranked first for branch service quality.

Eighty-one percent of customers would recommend Chase, up from 78% last year. Monzo followed closely, while HSBC ranked 12th at 57%, and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was last at 46%.

Dive deeper: Noteworthy is what Chase UK doesn’t yet offer its customers—branches or overdraft services. This suggests the survey respondents value the convenience and quality of its digital services over those its competitors offer in person, though traditional banks still fill an important gap with their in-person presence.

But like its digital counterparts, Chase UK performs well on customer review site TrustPilot, while traditional banks score lower. These are the common themes among Chase UK’s recent customer reviews:

• Easy-to-use app & seamless banking: Customers love the intuitive app, smooth transactions, and budgeting features including multiple accounts and round-ups.
• Strong customer perks: Cashback on spending, competitive exchange rates for travel, and good (though declining) savings interest rates are frequently praised.
• Excellent customer service: Quick, professional, and accessible support via online chat, with fewer delays compared with other banks.

By comparison, the common themes among RBS reviews include:

• Customer service issues: Many reviews highlight frustrating experiences with RBS’s customer support, including difficulty speaking to human representatives, unhelpful chatbot responses, and poor fraud resolution.
• Account issues: Several customers report missing funds, blocked transactions, and a lack of flexibility in resolving financial disputes.
• Positive branch experiences: Some customers praise RBS’s mobile banking app and select in-branch experiences, but these are overshadowed by broader customer dissatisfaction.

Our take: Although traditional banking incumbents have more customers than their digital competitors, they continue to lag in customer satisfaction, particularly in digital services. Traditional banks looking to improve customer perceptions should streamline customer support and enhance their mobile platforms to include what consumers appreciate about competitors’ apps.