49% of people ‘have found information provided by banks hard to understand’

Nearly half (49%) of people say the information supplied by banks and financial services providers has been fairly or very difficult for them to understand, according to a survey.

Some 44% of people surveyed said they have found the information provided fairly or very easy to understand, while the remainder did not know, YouGov found.

And 48% said banks and financial services providers had rarely or never given them enough information to make informed decisions.

A third (33%) said they always or often had enough information to make informed decisions, while the remainder did not know.

A new consumer duty is set to come into force, setting clearer and higher standards of consumer protection across financial services and requiring firms to put customers at the heart of what they do.

The rules come into force on July 31 for new and existing products or services that are open to sale or renewal, and July 31 next year for closed products or services.

The new rules indicate that firms should equip customers with the right information to make effective, timely, and properly informed decisions.

Nearly half (47%) of people surveyed believe banks and financial services firms are doing a poor job of communicating risk while 37% believe they are doing a good job.

Overall, 36% believe providers are giving good value for money, with 43% saying the value on offer across the sector is generally poor.

But three-fifths of people (60%) said the quality of service provided by their bank is of a good standard, while just a quarter (27%) said it had fallen short.

YouGov Surveys polled 2,000 people across Britain in March.

A UK Finance spokesperson said: “The banking and finance industry is committed to delivering good outcomes for customers and the industry recognises that the introduction of the consumer duty is to fundamentally reinforce these high standards.

“Firms have made extensive progress in preparation for the consumer duty which is due to be introduced in July this year and UK Finance is continuing to support its members throughout the process.”