The trade body says 77% of building society customers said their lender provides competitive rates, compared to 58% of bank customers, in a poll conducted by data body YouGov.

The survey found that building societies also came out on top across all seven measures of customer service it cited compared to banks, which has been the case since the poll started in 2016.

Looking at one key measure, 89% of building society customers said their mutual offered good customer service, compared to 80% of bank customers.

The YouGov poll interviewed a representative sample of 2,175 adults online between 7 and 8 July. Its results were calculated by the BSA and excludes those who said ‘don’t know.’ The survey draws on 532 building society customers and 1,583 customers of other financial service providers.