A survey of over 2,000 consumers revealed mutual are also more likely to be recommended by friends and family than banks, according to GfK NOP.
Mutuals beat banks on a raft of measures including how far a provider looks after its community, offers value for money and how responsibly it looks after your best interests.
The data suggested customers were also more satisfied with the current accounts, mortgages and savings products they bought from mutual providers.
In total, 77% of mutual current account customers were extremely or very satisfied with their provider, against 64% of bank customers. With mortgage borrowers, 69% were happy at mutuals versus 57% at banks.
Adrian Coles, director-general of the BSA said: “Whilst our members constantly work to do more and better for their customers, consumers plainly already value the difference. Many are showing this by investing and borrowing through building societies and other mutuals and we have seen a significant up-tick since the recent rash of plc bank-related issues.”
He continued: “There is no doubt that the usual factors of product, price and access will remain towards the top of consumers’ shopping list – as they should be. However, we are now starting to see the rise of trust and reputation as additional decision-making factors.”
