Barclays tops gripes despite push

Barclays may have been going on a customer charm offensive with its “Your Bank” initiative but it simply cannot throw off its poor image after once again being named the most complained about financial services firm.
The bank was also the most complained about firm in the second half of last year, with 44% of those upheld.
FCA data published today shows Barclays received 370,733 new complaints in the first half of 2013, down 12% from 414,302 on the previous six months.
Overall there were 2.9 million complaints made between January and June, a fall of 17% from 3.4 million between July and December.
Lloyds TSB was the second most complained about financial services firm with 253,735 complaints, a fall of 38% from 349,386 in the previous six months. MBNA, Lloyds subsidiary Bank of Scotland, and Santander made up the top five most complained about firms, with uphold rates of 36%, 45% and 43% respectively.
Complaints about missold payment protection accounted for 1.8 million, or 61 per cent, of new complaints. PPI accounted for £2.4bn of the total £2.55bn paid out in redress to customers in the first half of 2013.
FCA chief executive Martin Wheatley says: “We expect firms to put their customers at the heart of their business – an important part of this is the way they handle customer complaints.
“Publishing complaints data is a powerful tool that helps encourage competition between firms to improve their service to customers, and helps consumers assess their relationships with banks and other providers.”
Last month Barclays Bank pledged to commit to eight changes in response to the top ideas shared by consumers, following the launch of the “Your Bank” initiative. The bank received over 370,000 customer interactions generating more than 2,600 ideas on how the bank can make everyday banking easier for customers.

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