The 12 UK banks with the best public reputation

Ross McEwan, CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis

Financial institutions in the UK have taken a reputational beating in the years since the financial crisis, with trust in bankers and their employers hitting rock bottom among the general public after billions of pounds of bailouts and accusations of widespread misconduct in the pre-crisis years.

Nearly 10 years on from the beginning of the crisis, Britain’s banks are starting to fix their tarnished reputations and regain public trust.

Some lenders are doing better than others, however. A new study from the Reputation Institute gives all of the UK’s top retail banking players a score out of 100.

Scores are calculated by looking at what it calls “seven key rational dimensions of reputation.” These are: products and services, innovation, workplace, governance, citizenship, leadership, and performance.

“The impact from reputation on the business is massive, which is why the leading companies in the world are managing this asset in a systematic way,” James Bickford, the managing director of the institute says in a press release.

Here’s how the major banks rank: