Keep Financial Call Centres in Britain

In an independent study of over 2,000 adults, 87% said they would not be happy to have their bank account or other financial products serviced by staff based in an overseas call centre. Only one in 20 (5%) said they were happy about the idea and 9 per cent had no preference. Women are less happy about their financial affairs being dealt with overseas than men, with only one in 50 (2%) being happy about it, as opposed to 7% of men. Regionally, concerns are highest amongst those in the North (93%) and Scotland (89%). However, even in London, where concerns were lowest, eight out of ten people (80%) would not be happy to have their finances serviced by an overseas call centre. Older people are more concerned than younger people (88% of the over 30s and 89% of the over 50s) – but even amongst the 18 to 29s, eight out of ten (80%) are not happy at the thought of their bank account or other financial affairs being serviced from overseas. Concerns about job losses, communication and security There was a general concern about loss of British jobs (82%). Problems about communication (78%) also emerged strongly. Interestingly, younger people were more concerned about communication issues, with 81% of the under 30s citing this, compared to 74% of the over 50s. Worries about the security of their personal information were mentioned by (51%) with concerns about a lower quality of service also mentioned by just under half (47%).