Consumers go supermarket shopping for financial products

New players from the high street retail sector are continuing to win trust and attract praise for the quality of their service, according to the latest Moneywise Great British Customer Service Survey.

The survey, which had over 12,000 respondents, shows that retailers including Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, John Lewis and Tesco have made massive strides in the financial services sector. Tesco's plan to enter the mortgage market later this summer is evidence of its intention to further infiltrate the financial services market.

Moneywise expects people to increasingly look to brands they can trust as savvy consumers take more control of their money.

Johanna Gornitzki, editor of Moneywise, said: "Tesco is a good example of a retail brand that has successfully exploited the high levels of trust among its customers to make a real impact across the financial services market. In addition, Marks & Spencer has been shortlisted by consumers in five separate categories, which shows it continues to have high levels of trust among consumers.

"The message consumers are sending to mainstream providers is simple. They need to sort out their marketing departments and their customer services functions, ensuring they really understand their customers better and are fully committed to consumer research.

"Regulatory changes including the retail distribution review will encourage more consumers to go direct for all kinds of financial services products. As a result, it is essential for financial services providers that they start putting customers first."

The survey is the biggest customer service survey about financial providers in Britain.  The winners will be announced by Moneywise on 24 June.

For more information, visit moneywise.co.uk.