Monzo and Starling Bank took the top two places for personal current accounts in both Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and for business current accounts in Great Britain. That's according to the latest independent service quality survey of bank customers, published in August 2026.

About the survey

The surveys are carried out independently by Ipsos as part of a regulatory requirement. The results are published at the request of the providers and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), so customers can compare the quality of service from different providers.

Customers were asked how likely they would be to recommend their provider to friends and family. Business customers were asked about recommending it to other small and medium-sized businesses. The rankings show the percentage of each provider's customers who said they'd be "extremely likely" or "very likely" to recommend it.

The latest results cover surveys carried out between July 2025 and June 2026:

• Personal current accounts, Great Britain:

  around 1,000 customers of each of the 17 largest providers (17,055 people in total)

• Personal current accounts, Northern Ireland:

  around 500 customers of each of the 12 largest providers (6,027 people in total)

• Business current accounts, Great Britain:

  around 1,200 customers of each of the 17 largest providers (20,400 in total)

• Business current accounts, Northern Ireland:

  around 600 customers of each of the 5 largest providers (3,000 in total)

The survey also asks about online and mobile banking, services in branches and overdraft services. Business customers are also asked about relationship and account management. The rankings in this article cover overall service quality only.

What these rankings do and don't show: They reflect one measure, how likely each provider's customers are to recommend it. They don't compare fees, interest rates, overdraft costs or account features. Only the largest providers are included, so other banks and building societies aren't covered.

Highest-rated providers

Personal current accounts, Great Britain

• Monzo (79%)

• Starling Bank (76%)

• first direct (75%, joint)

• Nationwide (75%, joint)

Personal current accounts, Northern Ireland

• Monzo (82%)

• Starling Bank (79%)

• Nationwide (76%)

Business current accounts, Great Britain

• Monzo (85%)

• Starling Bank (83%)

• Mettle (82%)

Mettle's account is provided by National Westminster Bank plc, trading as Mettle.

Business current accounts, Northern Ireland

• Danske Bank (61%, joint)

• Ulster Bank (61%, joint)

• Santander (53%)

Lowest-rated providers

Personal current accounts, Great Britain (out of 17)

• Royal Bank of Scotland: 17th (48%)

• Virgin Money: 16th (49%)

• TSB: 15th (54%)

Personal current accounts, Northern Ireland (out of 12)

• AIB: 12th (44%)

• Bank of Ireland UK: 11th (45%)

• Santander: 10th (55%)

Business current accounts, Great Britain (out of 17)

• Santander: 17th (48%)

• Bank of Scotland: 16th (53%)

• Barclays, The Co-operative Bank and TSB: joint 13th (56%)

Business current accounts, Northern Ireland (out of 5)

• Bank of Ireland UK: 5th (42%)

• AIB: 4th (45%)

Read more: Best Savings Accounts Guide

How the results compare with a year earlier

The table compares the latest results (July 2025 – June 2026) with the previous survey covering the same months a year earlier (July 2024 – June 2025, published August 2025).

In Great Britain, Chase moved from joint second (78%) to fifth (68%) for personal current accounts. In Northern Ireland, Santander moved from first (63%) to third (53%) for business current accounts.

Which providers were included?

Personal current accounts, Great Britain: Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Chase, first direct, Halifax, HSBC UK, Lloyds, Metro Bank, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Starling Bank, The Co-operative Bank, TSB, Virgin Money.

Personal current accounts, Northern Ireland: AIB, Bank of Ireland UK, Barclays, Chase, Danske Bank, Halifax, HSBC UK, Monzo, Nationwide, Santander, Starling Bank, Ulster Bank.

Business current accounts, Great Britain: Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Handelsbanken, HSBC UK, Lloyds, Metro Bank, Mettle, Monzo, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Santander, Starling Bank, The Co-operative Bank, Tide, TSB, Virgin Money, Zempler Bank.

Business current accounts, Northern Ireland: AIB, Bank of Ireland UK, Danske Bank, Santander, Ulster Bank.

Full results, including the other service categories, are published on Ipsos's website. The results are updated every six months, in February and August.

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