How we assess branch-backed banking

High-street reviews follow the same seven-stage process used across BankAdvisor, from defining the reader's question through to re-checking what's changed. This page sets out where branch-backed banking needs its own criteria on top of that framework.

Branch access, cash handling and the wider product relationship carry more weight here than they would for an app-only account, so the checks below apply in addition to the core framework, not instead of it.

We check branch coverage, opening hours and the in-person services available, since this is often the main reason someone chooses a high-street account over an app-only one.

Telephone banking and the mobile app are assessed too, since most day-to-day banking now happens outside the branch even for branch-backed accounts.

The monthly fee is checked first, but overdraft rates, non-sterling card fees and cash-handling charges usually matter more over a year. We look at what's actually charged, not just what's advertised as free.

Where an account has a paid tier or rewards add-on, we check what it includes against its monthly cost before it counts as a strength.

Reward accounts and packaged benefits are weighed against their monthly cost, not treated as free value. A paid add-on has to clear that bar before it counts in the account's favour.

Where an account offers linked savings or a regular saver, we check the rate against the balance limits and access rules that actually apply.

We record each bank's current App Store and Google Play ratings alongside a check of what the app can actually do — card controls, spending categorisation and in-app support.

A high app-store score isn't treated as proof on its own; it's one signal alongside the app's real feature set.

We compare branch, telephone and app support against BankAdvisor's own trust score for each provider, rather than relying on a single external rating.

Where support quality varies by channel — strong branch service but slow phone wait times, for example — the review says so rather than averaging it into one figure.

We record what else a bank offers beyond the current account — mortgages, loans, credit cards and insurance — since a wider relationship is often why someone picks a high-street bank over an app-only one.

Rates and eligibility for lending products are noted as a snapshot, not a quote; readers are pointed to the provider to confirm current terms.

Every high-street bank is checked against the same criteria above, so a bank isn't marked down for lacking a feature it was never meant to have, and isn't credited for one it doesn't offer.

The seven-stage framework already requires both strengths and drawbacks to be shown; this applies it consistently across the high-street set.

Fees, rates and product terms change, so reviews are revisited when a bank changes something material rather than left static after publication.

The date shown at the top of this page and on each review reflects when it was last checked, not when it was first written.