Consumers seek alternatives when it comes to financial providers

Online and telephone bank First Direct is the UK’s most trusted financial brand in 2010, according to research by Moneywise magazine.

This was revealed at the second Moneywise Customer Service Awards, which coincided with Moneywise magazine’s 20th anniversary.

The awards marked the results of a six-month long investigation into what Britons really think about their financial services providers.

The surprise of the evening was the award for Most Trusted Personal Loan Provider, with smaller peer-to-peer lender Zopa raising its head above the parapet and taking the award from more established nominees in this category: Alliance & Leicester/Santander, First Direct, Halifax, Lloyds TSB and Northern Rock.

Other non-traditional financial service product providers such as John Lewis, Tesco and Marks & Spencer also achieved recognition at the awards, showing that trust is as much about brand as it is about product.

The winners of the Moneywise Customer Service Awards 2010: Who Can You Trust? came on the back of the largest dedicated customer service survey held in the UK and were presented in front of 270 guests and industry leaders at a black-tie gala at The Brewery in the City of London.

From January to March 2010 more than 10,000 responses were received via Moneywise magazine and Moneywise.co.uk and carefully analysed by CoreData Research. This information was used to identify those companies, which offer the best service and those, which are most trusted to provide these services, according to the British public.

Moneywise recognised that the best way to find out which financial service companies were the most trusted was to ask consumers direct. Customer experience is paramount and this research highlights any discrepancies between the message a financial services company sends to the consumer and what the consumer actually experiences.