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- The FOS received 101,031 bank complaints in the first half of 2024 out of a total of 133,091
Complaints about banking and credit services increased by 69 percent in the first half of 2024 compared to the same period last year.
In the first six months of 2024, 101,031 banking and credit complaints were filed, representing 76 percent of the total complaints received by the Financial Ombudsman Service in the first half of the year.
In the same period last year, the FOS received 59,690 banking and credit complaints, an increase of 69 percent.
Banking and credit services were responsible for the majority of complaints and are the only sector to experience an annual increase in complaints.
Banking and credit services received the highest number of complaints recorded by the FOS in the first half of 2024
Three out of four complaints lodged with the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS) by consumers in the first half of 2024 concerned banking and credit services.
Total complaints lodged with the FOS increased by more than 40 per cent in the first six months of 2024 compared to the same period in 2023.
The FOS received a total of 133,019 financial complaints between January 1 and June 30, 2024, compared to 93,114 complaints in the first half of 2023, data published by the FOS reveals.
Disputes over unaffordable credit cards and loans, car financing, as well as fraud and scams were the main drivers of the increase in banking and credit complaints.
Which banks did they complain about the most?
Vanquis Bank was the most complained about company within the banking and credit sector, receiving 16,067 new cases.
There was a significant drop in disputes over the next most complained about company, NewDay, which received 5,717 complaints.
Among the big-name banking giants, Barclays and Revolut are among the most in-demand banks, along with HSBC, Lloyds, Monzo, NatWest and Santander.
Barclays received 4,289 complaints in the first half of 2024. Barclays has a huge customer base, meaning it is frequently among the banks most complained about by FOS.
Revolut has 10 million customers in the UK and received 3,193 new cases in the first half of 2024.
The FOS said disputes over fraud and scams were one of the main drivers of the increase in complaints about banking and credit institutions.
The number of fraud reports mentioning Revolut as the Action Fraud scam reporting body increased by 36 per cent to 9,793 in 2023, a recent Freedom of Information request revealed.
HSBC received 3,193 complaints in the first half of this year, including complaints from First Direct customers. Lloyds, one of the UK’s largest banks with 27 million customers, received 2,919 complaints.
Monzo, with a UK customer base similar to Revolut’s at 10 million, received 2,839 complaints, while NatWest and Santander received 2,817 and 2,803 complaints respectively.
Abby Thomas, chief executive and chief ombudsman at FOS, said: “Businesses should put consumers at the center of their service, but the high level of complaints we receive shows this is not always the case.”
“It is vital that companies are open and transparent with their customers, treating them fairly and understanding.”
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