Consumers have become so disillusioned with banks that three-quarters would trust their cash to a department store, according to new research.
In a poll released on 29 August, consumers told uSwitch.com they would trust non-banking high street brands with their money, with John Lewis topping the charts with 75%.
House of Fraser (chosen by 25% of the public) and Debenhams (chosen by 23%) also proved popular, with supermarkets ranking higher; Waitrose (46%), Asda (36%) and Morrisons (26%).
On the issue of trust, the research suggested new additions to the banking industry, such as Virgin Money and Metro Bank, are performing better than their more established peers.
More than half said they believed banking newcomers care more about their customers and 18% said they had already switched from a traditional high street bank to one of them.
A further 79.9% also said they would consider switching to one in the future.
Somewhat bizarrely, the research also found a minority would trust their banking services to a company with no history of financial services such as eBay or Amazon.
Michael Ossei, personal finance expert at uSwitch.com, said in a statement: "It's a telling reflection of the UK banking industry that consumers are willing to put their trust in brands that have no previous banking experience.
"Consumer confidence in banks has been battered these last few years and recent scandals and IT fiascos have done little to win customers back.
"Hopefully this will act as a wake-up call to the high street banks and will make them pull their socks up. If they do, increased competition could be great news for consumers."
The research comes at a time when confidence and trust in traditional high street banks is at an all time low.
Last week saw Which? report on the myth of 'free-banking' and questions being raised about how banks should charge for current accounts in future.