What's the difference?

Service metrics for banks have been published today, but in their current form they are unlikely to provide useful insight for customers, which was the point of the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) remedy. More work may be needed.

These service metrics are another milestone in the delivery of remedies from the CMA investigation into retail banking. Open Banking will allow customers to compare prices, and now these service metrics aim to allow comparison of quality.

The headlines today have all been about the publication of satisfaction metrics, based on a customer survey, which will be on display the next time you walk into a branch (if you ever do). The problem is that these survey results may reflect corporate reputation as much as actual service quality – Royal Bank of Scotland consistently scores well below its other Natwest brand, despite offering the same products and service levels. This is why the CMA also wanted to publish objective service metrics that could tell customers (using comparison tools or the media) about the true differences in quality between brands. These have also been published today for the first time, and are available on banks' websites.

Unfortunately, these objective metrics do not pick out some of the key differentiators between brands. The new metrics published today are:

• how and when services and helplines are available; and
• how often the firm has had to report major operational and security incidents.

We’ve looked at the main brands that have so far published this data, and what objective differences this reveals. There aren’t many. Across all digital banking services, nearly 9 out of 10 of all the metrics are the same. It turns out all these brands allow customers to check balances, look at transaction history and send money through both their internet and mobile channels! There are some differences – you can’t set up a Standing Order on your mobile with HSBC or Tesco Bank (the other six will let you); only Barclays and Monzo will let you send money abroad from your phone; TSB had 7 major operational or security incidents between 1st April and 30th June this year, whilst Metro Bank had zero. But meaningful objective differences in day-to-day service quality are few.

This is a shame because there are some important differentiators in service when choosing a bank, such as speed of service in telephone banking, fraud detection, debt collection and recovery rates, coverage of branch network, or likelihood of incurring unplanned charges. Customer expectations are also changing, and the services available, particularly through mobile channels, are a focus of innovation - using touch ID, setting up new payees, real-time mobile transaction alerts, the ability to complete an overdraft application are all new services. Getting to a manageable, insightful and up-to-date list should continue to be an ongoing exercise.