Barclays is our most complained about bank, clocking up customer complaints at one a minute over the past six months, according to the Financial Services Authority.
But it isn't the only bank to receive a slew of complaints. While Barclays notched up a quarter of a million complaints over the period, Lloyds TSB received 181,907, Santander had 168,888 and NatWest 147,109.
In total, almost 10,000 complaints are filed each day to financial institutions – and banks, having the most customers, pick up the lion's share of these gripes.
The biggest cause of complaints is still mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), which is designed to cover loan or credit card repayments. But this isn't the only product that customers should give a wide berth to. Banks don't make their money offering the core products we need: current accounts, loans and mortgages. In recent years they've made far more money from selling various "extras", from insurance policies and investment bonds to offering "wealth management" advice.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/consumertips/banking/8799809/The-banking-products-to-avoid.html
List of products to avoid at the link. British advice, but most also applies to the US.