UK challenger banks beat incumbents all-hands down in CMA awards

The survey is designed to show how personal and business account holders rate the quality of services across the broad range of banking offers such as online and mobile banking, overdrafts and in-branch experience. For small business customers, the quality of their relationship with their account manager and quality of those services is also covered.

Overall, the top-ranked personal current accounts in Britain are Monzo, Starling and new entrant Chase. Bottom of the pile were the Co-operative Bank, Virgin Money and Royal Bank of Scotland.

Monzo and Starling also topped the rankings for best business accounts, with Tide coming in third. Some of the big beasts of the UK banking scene - Royal Bank of Scotland, the Co-operative, Barclays and HSBC - anchored the bottom of the list.

Monzo’s VP of operations, Lyndsey Edgar comments: “To be voted by our customers as the UK’s top bank for overall service for personal and business accounts is not something we’ll ever take for granted. We’re on a mission to change people’s relationship with money, and that means being there for our customers every single day. Topping these tables time and time again is recognition of the hard work and dedication of every employee at Monzo.”

Monzo currently serves more than 10m personal customers - 1 in 5 adults in the UK - and more than 450,000 business customers in the UK.

The CMA requires banks and buildings societies to display the survey results prominently online and in-branch so that customers can see whether they can get a better experience elsewhere.

Dan Turnbull, senior director of markets at the CMA, says: "It’s important that banks listen to their customers and then provide services in a way that works for them. Strong competition is the most effective way to improve the customer service experience, and this survey provides the transparency that people need to be able to choose a new provider if they feel their bank is not up to scratch."