The nation puts its faith in Nationwide

Nationwide took pole position on 19 per cent, followed by NatWest with 13 per cent and Halifax on 11 per cent as the banks or building societies people most trusted, according to a survey commissioned by moneysupermarket.com.

When asked the reasons for their choice, 39 per cent of Brits cited customer service and looking after their finances without a problem. Good reputation was a factor for 21 per cent of people, while having the most competitive products scored with nine per cent, and being in good shape with eight per cent.

Kevin Mountford of moneysupermarket.com said: "The traditional big four banks have constantly trumpeted themselves as Britain's most trusted names so it was a surprise to them topped by Nationwide.

"What was particularly interesting was the reputation of prominent stable-mates. NatWest scored more than triple the number of votes that Royal Bank of Scotland did while HSBC greatly outranked First Direct.

"Nationwide performed brilliantly – not only clearly outstripping its rivals but also being the only building society in the top ten.

"The Northern Rock crisis has clearly focused people's minds with service, reputation and lack of problems being uppermost in people's minds – even ahead of product offerings.

"Northern Rock is now only most trusted by 0.5 per cent of the population, showing that trust in a brand can diminish in seconds."

The findings also revealed:

A quarter of 18 to 24 year olds were influenced by the reputation of the provider compared with just 17 per cent of 35 to 44 year olds.

Good customer service is most important to those in the North of England (44 per cent) compared to only 31 per cent of Scots.

Those in North West England were the largest group to base their decision on competitive products, at 14 per cent.

The bank or building society trusted the most

Provider - %
Nationwide 18.7%
NatWest 13.3%
Halifax 11.0%
Lloyds TSB 10.2%
HSBC 8.9%
Barclays 6.5%
Abbey 4.5%
Royal Bank of Scotland 4.2%
The Co-operative Bank 3.7%
First Direct 3.4%
Alliance & Leicester 3.4%