Atom bank puts customer feedback at the heart of its business. We spoke to Liam Dexter, Head of Brand and Experience at Atom bank, to find out why, and the role that Feefo plays.
Collecting customer feedback is a must for all businesses today. But when you’re an app-only bank, reviews are an essential part of proving to new customers that your business can be trusted from the get-go.
Founded with the aim of completely disrupting the banking industry, Atom bank aims to make the experience of borrowing and saving faster, easier and better value for money than anyone else. But with no branch-based services, building trust with customers that are used to being able to pop in and speak to someone posed a challenge.
Atom bank knew that if you deliver great service and keep your promises, then people will talk about you, and others want to hear their opinions. In the digital age, that means online reviews, and our research supports that. Customers want to hear about the experiences of others before they commit. 96% of UK consumers read reviews before they purchase, and 54% who read and leave reviews say they mainly leave reviews to help other consumers.
“Customer reviews are an integral element of our Voice of the Customer programme, showing prospective customers what their peers think about the brand, and each individual product. Those opinions can inform their decision about whether or not they want to do business with Atom.”
Liam Dexter, Head of Brand and Experience with Atom bank
Showing other people why they should choose Atom bank is a significant reason that they collect customer reviews with Feefo. But working with Feefo isn’t where their efforts end; the team at Atom bank knew that more is more when it comes to showing how trustworthy the business is.
Building trust: More evidence is better
Rather than relying on just one feedback platform, Atom bank uses multiple ways to demonstrate its credibility. This means that people can see reviews on third party platforms they recognise and trust, alongside accreditations that underscore Atom bank is a bank they can feel confident doing business with.
The Atom bank team highlight multiple trust signals on the website, including:
- Customer feedback collected with Feefo
- Reviews being collected on Trustpilot
- The bank being authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA)
- Regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
- Coverage by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
- Use of the Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Current scores from Feefo and other platforms sit alongside the FSCS logo on the Atom bank home page, instilling confidence in prospective customers before they start to move through their journey to purchase.
Atom bank use functionality within the Feefo hub to collect and measure their Net Promoter Score (NPS), an internationally recognised trust signal to measure customer satisfaction.
“We feel the fact that the survey comes from and is calculated by a third party helps with transparency about that measure and breeds confidence.”
Liam Dexter, Head of Brand and Experience with Atom bank
The case for using Feefo and Trustpilot together
For businesses in the financial services industry, reviews aren’t just about social proof and insights for improvements to their products and services.
In July 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) introduced Consumer Duty requirements in the UK that means that businesses offering financial services must comply with four pillars: Products and Services, Price and Value, Consumer Understanding, and Consumer Support.
This requirement prompted some businesses to start collecting verified reviews, since comments and complaints can be followed up after action has been taken to ensure customer satisfaction. This provides evidence to show compliance with the Consumer Duty.
Atom bank has been collecting customer feedback with both Feefo and Trustpilot for a number of years, and this decision pre-dates the Consumer Duty legislation. Their choosing to use both platforms was based on supporting customers to make the best decisions for them, rather than as a response to the Consumer Duty requirements. But since doing what is best for customers is a significant part of Consumer Duty, this simply meant Atom were ahead of the curve.
The dual aspect approach of using Feefo and Trustpilot means that they can collect more information from customers. Verified reviews from Feefo can be used to demonstrate compliance with the Consumer Understanding and Consumer Support requirements of Consumer Duty.
Verbatim comments, product scores, and data from post-purchase surveys can be collected in Feefo which can be followed up with customers to ensure satisfactory outcomes. Verified reviews collected through Trustpilot can also be used to demonstrate compliance.
The team can make use of anonymous reviews left on Trustpilot internally, but as contact details are unavailable, these comments can’t be used to show Consumer Duty compliance. But as they’re collecting verified reviews on both platforms, they have more than enough evidence to show their intentions towards customers.
Their proactive strategy of using both Feefo and Trustpilot together proved invaluable when the company was assessed by auditors.
About Atom Bank
Founded in 2014, Atom bank is the UK's first completely app-based bank and the country's first digital-only bank to be granted a regulatory licence. At the forefront of their mission is to have a positive impact on the world, with sustainability and community, including a broad voice of the customer programme.
