Complaints about big banks have increased by 69% in the past year – where does yours rank?
- The FOS received 101,031 bank complaints in the first half of 2024 out of a total of 133,091
The number of complaints about banking and credit services increased by 69 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
In the first six months of 2024, 101,031 banking and credit complaints were filed, representing 76 percent of the total number of complaints received by the Financial Ombudsman Service in the first half of the year.
In the same period last year, the FOS received 59,690 banking and credit complaints, which represents an increase of 69 percent.
Banking and credit services were responsible for the lion’s share of complaints and are the only sector where the number of complaints increased annually.
Banking and credit services received the most complaints registered by the FOS in the first half of 2024
Three out of four complaints that consumers filed with the Financial Ombudsman (FOS) in the first half of 2024 concerned banking and credit services.
The total number of complaints to the FOS increased by more than 40 percent in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
The FOS received a total of 133,019 financial complaints between January 1 and June 30, 2024, compared to 93,114 complaints in the first half of 2023, data published by the FOS shows.
Disputes over credit cards and unaffordable loans, car financing, fraud and scams were the main causes of the increase in banking and credit complaints.
Which banks received the most complaints?
Vanquis Bank was the most complained about company in the banking and credit sector, receiving 16,067 new cases.
There was a significant drop in disputes over the next most complained about company – NewDay – which received 5,717 complaints.
Of the well-known banking giants, Barclays and Revolut are among the most complained about banks, alongside HSBC, Lloyds, Monzo, NatWest and Santander.
Barclays received 4,289 complaints in the first half of 2024. Barclays has a huge customer base, meaning it is often among the top most complained about banks according to FOS.
Revolut has 10 million customers in Britain and received 3,193 new cases in the first half of 2024.
The FOS said disputes over fraud and scams were one of the main drivers behind the increase in complaints about banking and credit companies.
The number of fraud reports mentioning Revolut in Action Fraud scam has risen by 36 percent to 9,793 by 2023, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed.
HSBC received 3,193 complaints in the first half of this year, including First Direct complaints from customers. Lloyds, one of Britain’s largest banks with 27 million customers, received 2,919 complaints.
Monzo, which has a customer base of 10 million in the UK similar to Revolut, received 2,839 complaints, while NatWest and Santander received 2,817 and 2,803 complaints respectively.
Abby Thomas, chief executive and chief ombudsman at the FOS, said: ‘Businesses must put consumers at the heart of their services, but the high number of complaints we receive shows that this is not always the case.
‘It is crucial that companies are open and transparent with their customers and treat them fairly and understandingly.’
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