The bank said total complaints fell 26 percent year-on-year, dropping to 284,000 from a global customer base of 48 million. That included a 37 percent reduction in complaints about insurance to 183,000, the vast majority of which relate to payment protection insurance (PPI) sold in the UK.

British banks have so far set aside 22 billion pounds ($36.50 billion) to compensate customers mis-sold PPI.

The policies were supposed to protect borrowers against sickness or redundancy but were often sold to those who would be ineligible to claim.

($1 = 0.6027 British Pounds)

(Reporting by Matt Scuffham; Editing by Laura Noonan)