British public’s top 100 most loved financial services brands revealed

Savanta’s new research reveals the Top 100 Most Loved Financial Brands across a range of categories, from heritage banking brands to up-and-coming neobanks and trend-setting payment platforms.

PayPal, Visa, MoneySavingExpert, Apple Pay and Monzo lead the charge when it comes to the top five financial services brands the British public ‘love’ the most, a new report from Savanta finds.

The brand-new research delves into the public’s most loved financial services brands across banking, payment platforms, aggregators, neobanks, retailers, insurers, credit cards, credit check companies and investments and savings services.

Coming in sixth is payment platform G Pay, followed by Klarna, Nationwide, Post Office, Mastercard, Revolut, Animal Friends, Barclays Bank, Amazon Pay, Compare the Market, Samsung Pay, Lloyds Bank, ClearScore and Moneybox, with credit check company Totally Money rounding off the Top 20.

Alongside the cross-sector top 100, the report also highlights the top performing brands within individual sectors. The top three category medallists are:

• Payment platforms – PayPal, Visa, Apple Pay
• Aggregators – Compare the Market, Money Supermarket, GoCompare
• Banking – Nationwide, Barclays, Lloyds
• Neo-banks – Monzo, Revolut, Starling
• Retailers – Post Office, Tesco Bank, ASDA Money
• Insurers – AA, Staysure, RAC
• Credit cards – Barclaycard, Aqua, American Express
• Credit check – ClearScore, Totally Money, Credit Karma
• Investment & savings – Moneybox, Fidelity, Old Mutual

The report focusses on brand ‘love’ as opposed to brand ‘trust’. Data shows that brand ‘love’ is a clearer differentiator – if a consumer loves a brand, they are more likely to consider and prefer it, and more likely to recommend it than if they were to make a decision based on trust alone.

Factors that drive brand ‘love’ are softer more emotional and personal attributes based on brands demonstrating more empathy for consumers. Brands that inspire ‘love’ are those who connect emotionally with customers – by keeping it relevant, showing commitment, and making people feel understood, valued and supported.
It’s easy to talk about brand ‘love’ when it comes to things such as food, drink and entertainment, because they are driven by emotion. But in a market that’s ruled by necessity and day-to-day life, being able to stand up and confidently say ‘consumers love us’ is a monumental achievement for any financial services brand to aspire to.

Trust has always been important in financial services, and if anything has become more so in the current environment. The financial services sector is changing however, and with so many brands offering a similar service, ‘trust’ has become more of a hygiene factor – a ‘base line’ for whether or not someone will even consider using them. Brands need to move beyond trust and connect emotionally. That’s why brand ‘love’ is increasingly important to drive growth and for brands to progress – it’s the only thing that sets brands apart.

The Top 100 Financial Services Brand winners clearly show that they’ve built strong, emotional relationships with their consumers, and ultimately, that’s what’s going to keep them there.

To read the full report, please click here.