Bank branch closures and poor websites risk excluding disabled people

More than half of disabled bank customers have struggled to access vital banking services, our survey has found. 

Security features such as card readers and passwords were difficult for one in five to use. 

Financial firms have a legal obligation under the Equality Act 2010 to remove barriers for people with disabilities, of whom there are some 16 million – almost one in four – people in the UK. 

Yet our investigation and survey of 2,723 disabled customers has found that some face major obstacles when trying to manage their money.

Banks highest rated by disabled customers

First Direct and Nationwide were highest rated by disabled customers, as they were in 2021 when we last surveyed.

Founded as a branchless bank, First Direct's telephone service attracted the bulk of the positive comments. 

One customer who has ME, which affects their vision, said that the ‘helpful and friendly’ telephone advisers are the ‘main reason’ they have stayed with First Direct. Another said staff were ‘very patient, polite and understanding’, and ‘always do what they can to resolve the reason for my call’.

Second-placed Nationwide is head and shoulders above other high street brands and is the only provider with four stars for its branch service, although customers were less impressed with telephone banking. Many positive comments related to ‘patient’ branch staff, described as ‘always going above and beyond without being patronising or condescending’.

• Find out more: our wider expert and customer bank scores

Worst-performing banks

At the bottom of our table are Barclays and TSB. 

Automated phone systems were singled out, with one customer describing Barclays’ telephone service as ‘nothing short of abysmal’. 

Other respondents criticised the way TSB call handlers deal with Relay UK calls (a text-to-voice service for people with hearing and speech difficulties).

Branch closures were mentioned by many TSB customers, and several said its remaining branches are too busy, lack seating or don’t have enough parking. 

‘My nearest “local” TSB branch is 10 miles away,’ one respondent told us. 'It now only has one counter, for which we have to queue, and one machine for all our banking needs. TSB and banks in general have no concept of their effect on those who don’t bank online. Our needs are secondary to the need to “streamline services” and make money.'

Customer scores and star ratings

Left stranded by branch closures

Bank branches are closing at a rate of around 54 each month, and the ramifications of losing face-to-face banking surfaced as a common thread in our survey, with 52% of respondents saying this has had a fairly or very negative impact on their ability to access bank services (specifically in relation to their impairment or disability).

Respondents also reported issues with wheelchair access (13%), hearing loops (10%) and accessible debit cards (12%) in the past 12 months. 

One Which? member told us that he feels ‘discarded’ after learning that his local HSBC in Somerset is closing this month: ‘I have Parkinson’s disease and have great difficulty communicating over the phone and also inputting complicated passwords. The staff have been extremely helpful, but I’ve been trying to master online banking without success. This whole situation has been incredibly stressful and distressing.’

• Find out more: see if your local branch is closing

Security hurdles

Mass closures are felt keenly when alternative services aren’t up to scratch: 35% of respondents said they find it fairly or very difficult to speak to their banks over the phone, and 21% struggle with security features such as card readers or remembering passwords. 

New security checks for online card payments, known as strong customer authentication (SCA), have also proved problematic for 39% of the disabled people we surveyed, typically because they run out of time (17%) or can’t receive security codes due to poor mobile signal (14%).

Some disabled people said they avoid online and mobile banking because they don’t feel confident that they can protect themselves from scams. 

The Office for National Statistics, reporting on fraud and computer misuse crime in the year ending March 2022, found that disabled adults were more likely to be a victim of fraud (9%) than those without a disability (7%).

• Find out more: sign up to our free scam alert emails

Breaking down digital barriers

Banks should perform user testing to remove unnecessary barriers, yet many told Which? they haven’t tested the latest versions of their websites and apps with disabled people: AIB (UK), Danske Bank, Revolut, Starling and Virgin Money. Starling said vulnerable consumer research is in progress. 

The Co-operative Bank originally told Which? it had not performed user testing with disabled people, however, it has since confirmed that both the website and app 'have been extensively tested with disabled people' since March this year.  

Overall, 13% of disabled people we surveyed said they find it difficult to navigate their banks’ websites; for people with learning difficulties this jumped to 43%.

There are international standards for accessibility, known as Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) with three levels of conformance: A (lowest), AA (mid range), and AAA (highest). 

But we found that several providers are lagging behind, including bottom-rated TSB. It told us it’s aware that some parts of its website do not meet A/AA standards and is working hard to address these, adding that it believes a series of improvements to its app ‘are mostly to AA level standard’. 

Danske Bank, Metro Bank, Revolut, Santander and Starling said they are also still working towards AA standards. Starling cited ongoing work to apply standards for things such as colour contrast. Monzo told us it doesn’t yet measure its products against WCAG, although its long-term inclusion strategy will include this.

'I had to learn a whole new way of working'

John Bentley, a retired NHS manager (pictured above) was an active member of his community in Nantwich, Cheshire, before a brain haemorrhage in April 2017 changed his life in an instant.

‘I was forced to come to terms with being partially sighted, no longer able to drive and redefined as “disabled”. I had to learn a whole new way of working with computers and my phone. I also have a stammer, so voice recognition is of little use.’

John has had to change the way he banks, too. He’s now supported by staff at Santander’s Crewe branch, a 25-minute bus ride away, where he is welcomed by a greeter who is always available and helpful if he is doing anything complicated. He's deeply concerned that his branch might close.

‘Why should my independence be thwarted just because it is easier for the banks? Branch closures cannot be replaced with call centres, online or mobile apps. Being able to use a bank in person is important.’

• Find out more: Check this list of accessible bank services

This article was updated on 15 June 2023 to reflect new information provided by The Co-operative Bank.