Complaints about huge banks surge 69% up to now 12 months – the place does YOURS rank?

Complaints about banking and credit services surged 69 per cent 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, making up 76 per cent of the total complaints the Financial Ombudsman Service received in the first half of the year.

In the same period the previous year, the FOS received 59,690 banking and credit complaints, representing a jump of 69 per cent.

Banking and credit services were responsible for the lion’s share of complaints and is the only sector that saw an annual increase in complaints. 

Banking and credit services received the most complaints recorded by the FOS in the first half of 2024

Three in four complaints made to the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) by consumers in the first half of 2024 were about banking and credit services. 

Total complaints made to the FOS jumped by over 40 per cent in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period of 2023, 

The FOS received a total of 133,019 financial complaints between 1 January and 30 June 2024, compared to 93,114 complaints in the first half of 2023 data published by the FOS reveals. 

Disputes about credit cards and unaffordable lending, car finance as well as fraud and scams were the main drivers behind the rise in banking and credit complaints. 

Which banks were most complained about?  

Vanquis Bank was the most complained about firm within the banking and credit sector, receiving 16,067 new cases. 

There was a significant drop in disputes made about the next most complained about firm – NewDay – which received 5,717 complaints.  

Out of the household name 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 huge customer base, which means it frequently features at the top of the most complained about banks to FOS. 

Revolut has 10million customers in the UK and received 3.193 new cases in the first half of 2024. 

The FOS said disputes about fraud and scams were one of the main drivers behind the jump in complaints about banking and credit firms. 

The number of fraud reports mentioning Revolut to scam reporting body Action Fraud jumped by 36 per cent to 9,793 in 2023, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed.

HSBC received 3,193 complaints in the first half of this year, including First Direct customer complaints. Lloyds, one of the UK’s biggest banks with 27million customers, received 2,919 complaints. 

Monzo, with a similar UK customer base to Revolut at 10million, 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 should put consumers at the heart of their service but the high level of complaints we receive shows that’s not always the case.

‘It’s vital that businesses are open and transparent with their customers, treating them with fairness and understanding.’