Santander bans profanity in payment references – but do Britons swear by the idea?

Santander recently announced that it will block any payments with profanity in the reference following a rise in the number of customers receiving “abusive messages and threats” via faster payment messages. 

While it’s designed as a protective measure, it’s also received some criticism for perceived heavy-handedness (among other things, one source speculated to Sky News that it may block business for holidaymakers looking to visit “Sandy Balls” ).

As for what the public think, new YouGov data reveals they’re more likely to support the ban than not: 40% are in favour of prohibiting swear words in payment references, with just 14% opposed.

Older Britons are most likely to support the cessation of cursing (with 50% of over-55s endorsing the ban), while younger Britons are the least likely (35%). As people age, the comedy value of an inappropriate payment reference may diminish – particularly if you ever need to explain a payment labelled “money for sex” to the bank processing your mortgage application. 

Customers of high street banks and building societies are more likely to support the ban on profane payments – but those of neobanks are more mixed on the idea 

A plurality of Santander’s customers approve of forbidding profanity in payment references (41% vs. 13%). But what do customers at other banks think? 

In general, they’re more likely to support the ban than not, but traditional institutions demonstrate greater approval than newer entrants to the market. 

At the top of the table: Virgin Money (43% support vs. 15% oppose), HSBC (42% vs. 13%), HSBC (42% vs. 13%), Barclays (42% vs. 14%) and Nationwide (42% vs. 13%). At the bottom are the digital banks: Chase (35% vs. 18%), Monzo (30% vs. 20%), Starling (30% vs. 23%), and Revolut – (28% vs. 28%). 

It’s not necessarily the case that fintech users are more keen on an edgy bank that allows swearing – it may simply be that these banks have a younger customer base (per YouGov Profiles, 59% of Monzo account-holders are aged 18-34 compared to 30% for Barclays). 

Make smarter business decisions with better intelligence. Understand exactly what your audience is thinking by leveraging our panel of 26 million+ members. Speak with us today. 

Methodology

YouGov polled 2,000 British adults online on 18-19 July. The survey was carried out through YouGov Surveys: Self-serve. Data is weighted by age, gender, education level, region, and social grade. The margin of error is 2% for the overall sample. Learn more about YouGov Surveys: Self-serve.