A GfK NOP survey of 2,000 consumers has found that trust in building societies is far higher than banks across a number of categories.
The number of people who feel building societies value them as a customer is 22% points higher than feel the same about banks.
This is up from a gap of 15% points in May. When asked if their provider was honest and open with them, building societies were 11% points in front of banks.
Customers were asked if they trusted their provider to act in their best interests building societies were 17% points ahead of banks.
For the first time the survey asked consumers about the ethical standards their lender adhered to.
62% of those polled said that they thought their bank had low ethical standards.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents said their mutuals had high ethical standards compared to just 50% for banks.
Commenting on the results, Hilary McVitty, BSA Head of External Affairs, said: "We were not surprised to see that consumers’ views had changed in these three months, but we were rather taken aback by the degree of movement.
“Strong feelings are clearly being expressed here by consumers. “These views are being backed up by action by more than a few, as evidenced by the sustained increase in mortgage lending and a healthy inflow of retail deposits in July announced today.
“Whilst mutuals are currently benefiting, their attention is not just on the present, but the future and continuing to deliver the products that UK consumers want with the service and behaviours that they expect."
