The big four banks lag behind the smaller ones with a customer satisfaction rate of 67.6 per cent compared to smaller banks’ 72.2 per cent, Roy Morgan research found.
Smaller banks have taken a clear lead in satisfaction for both consumers (86.6 per cent) and businesses (72.2 per cent).
As a result, 74.3 per cent of business customers are more likely to recommend Bendigo Bank to others, while 49.8 per cent will recommend Suncorp and 47.1 per cent will recommend St George.
The Roy Morgan Business Single Source survey also found business customer satisfaction is well below personal customer satisfaction. It is up 8.2 percentage points from 2010 to 69.6 per cent, compared to personal customer satisfaction, which stands at 82.8 per cent (up 6.5 percentage points).
Westpac leads the pack for business customer satisfaction levels out of the big four banks at 71.6 per cent, followed by the National Australia Bank (NAB; 69.6 per cent), the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA; 66.2 per cent) and ANZ (62.3 per cent).
Among the big banks, only 41.4 per cent of CBA’s business customers are likely to recommend it to others.
Only half or less than half of the big banks’ business customers are likely to recommend it to others, with 51 per cent of Westpac’s customers likely to do so.
NAB is well behind at 42.9 per cent, while ANZ is at 42 per cent.
“With a generally increased focus by banks on retaining and growing business through recommendation or advocacy, it is essential they also focus on customers being ‘very satisfied’, not just ‘fairly satisfied’,” industry communications director Norman Morris said.
“There is a strong connection between the personal and business banks among small business operators and as such a poor performance in one segment is likely to impact on the other segment’s result.”
