Bendigo Bank customers most satisfied in Australia

Roy Morgan research has found customer satisfaction with the banks in the six months to March 2018 was at 80.9 per cent, down 0.1 percentage points from February.

However, when you look at the long term monthly average calculated since 2001 (73.8 per cent), this drop still “represents a positive result”.

The big four banks remain below this bank satisfaction level of 80.9 per cent. Looking forward, customer satisfaction with the big four banks may continue to fall as the Royal Commission into Australia’s banking sector continues to play out in the media.

Who are the most satisfied banking customers in Australia?

Roy Morgan research also found that in the last 12 consecutive months, Bendigo Bank customers reported the highest levels of satisfaction (87.5 per cent) when compared to the top ten largest banks.

This was followed by ING (87.1 per cent), St George (84.6 per cent), Bankwest (84.6 per cent) and Bank of Queensland (83.1 per cent). Bankwest saw the strongest growth in customer satisfaction from February 2018, increasing 0.9 percentage points.

Roy Morgan research also noted that of the top ten largest banks, “Bendigo hasn’t been beaten for customer satisfaction since February 2017 by ING, with a narrow 0.7 per cent difference in their customer’s satisfaction levels”.

Customer banking satisfaction – 10 largest consumer banks

Source: Roy Morgan Research

Of the big four banks, only ANZ saw an increase in customer satisfaction from February 2018, rising by 0.3 percentage points. However, the others only had marginal declines, with CBA down 0.3 percentage points (to 79.7 per cent), NAB down 0.2 percentage points (to 78.7 per cent) and Westpac down 0.4 percentage points (to 77.7 per cent).

Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director at Roy Morgan, said that despite a small decline in satisfaction with banks over the last month, “their customers now have much higher satisfaction levels than they have averaged over the last two decades”.

“This highlights the importance of measuring long term trends, as we have seen on many occasions that short term fluctuations are often misleading in understanding the bigger picture.

 “Over more than twelve consecutive months, Bendigo Bank has had the highest percentage of satisfied customers, currently sitting at 87.5 per cent.

 “Yet even Bendigo Bank struggles to meet the satisfaction levels of smaller banks, such as Heritage Bank, the winner of Roy Morgan’s Bank of the Month award, as part of the monthly Customer Satisfaction Awards,” said Mr Morris.

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