Banking satisfaction still runs high despite some frostiness

The results are in and customer satisfaction with the big banks is down, according to new Roy Morgan survey released today.

The data, which measures the satisfaction of customers over a six month period, shows that it’s the big banks’ home loan customers that feel they’re not getting as much love as they’d like, with an average drop of 0.8 percentage points across the majors.

RateCity money editor Sally Tindall said despite the drop, banks were still seeing a record high of happiness.

“Customer satisfaction is still at an all-time high so it’s really a matter of whether the glass is half full or three quarters full. 

“For members of credit unions and building societies – their glasses are brimming – with an impressive 91.4 per cent of satisfied customers,” she said.

This month’s award for the bank with the happiest customers went to Teachers Mutual Bank while ING Direct is the winner in relation to home loans.

Norman Morris, industry communications director at Roy Morgan Research said it was difficult to link the data to the bank’s announcement in October to lift rates.

“The rise in home loan rates announced in late October by the big four is unlikely to have had any real impact on the results yet,” said Morris.

“Only the coming months will tell us how these heavily publicised interest rate rises have affected satisfaction.”

Morris believes that the major banks may start to feel the pressure of the competition in the marketplace.

“The higher satisfaction with the smaller banks presents a major challenge, particularly as any adverse publicity regarding rate increases is generally focused on the big four banks,” he said.

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