Welcome to the Finder Business Banking Customer Satisfaction Awards 2023.
Our awards are decided by the only votes that really matter – yours. We asked customers of 13 major business banking providers to tell us about their experiences, and now we can reveal how they rated them.
The winners
The winning and highly commended companies were decided by both their overall customer satisfaction scores (star ratings out of 5) and their recommendation scores (the percentage of survey respondents who would recommend the brand to a friend). Read more on our methodology and see our full results below.
Now without any further ado, here are our winners (*drumroll please*).
Business Banking Customer Satisfaction Winner
Mettle
Despite being a comparative newcomer, Mettle has made its mark and claimed the top spot in our business banking category. It scored an impressive 5 out of 5 stars and a “would recommend” score of 97% from its customers that we surveyed.
Business Banking Customer Satisfaction Highly Commended
HSBC
High-street bank HSBC posted 4.5 out of 5 stars and received a “would recommend” score of 97.2%, which earned it a highly commended spot in this year’s business banking awards.
Best business banks for customer satisfaction in 2023
Overall satisfaction
Customers who’d recommend
Issuer
Review
★★★★★
97%
Mettle is a comparative newcomer to business banking and is a digital-only offshoot from parent company NatWest. It’s moved up the ranks this year to secure the top spot with a “would recommend” score of 97%.
HSBC, the largest bank in the UK, also polled strongly in our survey, posting a rating of 4.5 stars. Like some of the other banks here, it offers a free banking introductory period for startups or businesses switching their account, after which fees apply.
Royal Bank of Scotland finished a respectable third in this year’s business banking survey. It posted 4.5 out of 5 stars and a 96.8% “would recommend” score. Its customers that we canvassed praised its “great customer service”.
Another high-street veteran, Barclays, isn’t far behind. The bank operates different business accounts depending on company size, and our survey respondents praised its “helpful” customer service.
Long-established Lloyds Bank recorded an impressive “would recommend” score of 94% in our survey. It offers business accounts for new and established businesses as well as one for clubs and charities. Customers cited the bank’s customer service and clear pricing.
It’s a competitive table this year, so while NatWest may have finished in the middle, just over 9 out of 10 of the customers that we surveyed would recommend this bank to a friend and were generally pleased with its level of customer support.
Santander operates a range of different business accounts, some of which come with discounted fees for startups or customers who are switching. Customers praised its reliable and “friendly” service.
Digital challenger bank Starling matched established high-street bank’s “would recommend” scores in our survey, despite not having any branches. The customers we polled highlighted its easy-to-use app and low business banking charges.
Virgin Money posted 4.5 out of 5 stars and a “would recommend” score of 91% in its first year in our survey. It offers 25 months of free day-to-day banking to new business customers.
Although its branch network is mainly confined to Scotland, Bank of Scotland offers accounts to businesses across the UK. It has several business account options to choose from, and there is a dedicated resource centre especially for business account holders.
The Co-operative Bank is known for its ethical business banking, and customers in our survey commended it on its reliable service. Over 9 out of 10 customers would recommend this bank to a friend.
TSB slipped down the table this year but still posted a very respectable 93% “would recommend” score. TSB relaunched on the UK high street in 2013 and is currently offering an initial period of free business banking for 30 months to startups and account switchers.
Tide is a digital-only business banking provider, and its customers highlighted its easy account set-up and clear-to-use online features as some its major plus points.
We asked business account holders to rate their satisfaction with the service they had received from their banking provider, and also whether they would recommend that provider to a friend. Our independent survey of 623 business banking customers was carried out in December 2022 – read full details of our methodology here.
We have crunched the numbers and shown the results for the 13 banking providers listed in the table above. We used these ratings to decide the winners of our awards (if there was a draw on the star rating, we used the “would recommend” percentage as a tie-breaker).
Business banking ratings
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Our customer satisfaction scores (“Customers say”) are based on a survey of 623 customers carried out in December 2022.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
Kate Steere is an editor at Finder, specialising in fintech, banking and cryptocurrency. She has previously written for The Motley Fool UK and Fitch Solutions, where she covered a wide range of personal finance topics and kept a close eye on market trends. Kate has a Bachelor of Arts in Modern History from the University of East Anglia. When not working, she can usually be found curled up with a good book or heading out for a run. See full bio
Kate's expertise
Kate has written 175 Finder guides across topics including:
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