The research from Which? reveals that while the banks have made changes to reform their sales-culture in recent years, removing individual sales targets is not enough to reduce the risk of mis-selling.
The research found three in ten (28%) sales staff at the big five banking groups still say they sometimes feel they’re expected to sell regardless of whether it’s appropriate, and the same percentage (28%) say they are uncomfortable with their bank’s approach to sales.
However these figures have dropped since the same survey was carried out in 2012, when four in ten (40%) sales staff at the big banks knew colleagues who had mis-sold to meet targets and nearly half (45%) said that they sometimes felt they were expected to sell regardless of whether it was appropriate.
Additionally, nearly half (46%) of sales staff say the availability of incentives for sales have decreased in the last year and fewer now feel under pressure to sell because of the culture in their bank (27% compared to 43% in 2012). Eight in ten (78%) staff say there is more emphasis on good customer service than selling.
However separate Which? analysis of data from the Financial Ombudsman Service found that banks are still not delivering on the basics like complaints handling.
Excluding PPI complaints, Santander was the only big bank to see complaints to the Ombudsman fall in the second half of last year, compared to the same period in 2013. NatWest and RBS had the biggest increases, with complaints going up by 41% and 31% respectively.
In its report, Which? said:
"The Financial Conduct Authority must continue the work it has already started and ensure that banks are monitoring sales practices closely and gathering feedback from staff. The Banking Standards Board also needs to keep up the pressure on the industry to drive cultural reform and put customers first."
