Customer satisfaction among the big four banks is improving for the first time since the Royal Commission, according to Roy Morgan research, although it remains below the rate prior to the inquiry.
The organisation surveyed 50,000 consumers and found while satisfaction remained below pre-Royal Commission levels, it had risen 0.6 percentage points in the past two months.
Commonwealth Bank had the highest satisfaction at 78 per cent, followed by Westpac and ANZ at 74 per cent and NAB at 72 per cent. The average satisfaction rating was 75.9 per cent compared to 79.2 per cent in January 2018.
But these figures were well below satisfaction for smaller players with both Bendigo Bank and ING receiving a 90 per cent rating, perhaps because the smaller banks were less-targeted by the Royal Commission.
When the big four were excluded, the average bank customer satisfaction rating rose to 83.8 per cent, down slightly from 84.9 per cent in January 2018.
Roy Morgan industry communications director, Norman Morris, said: “It is not surprising that over the last year there has been a decline in satisfaction of the big four banks following the high level of negative publicity generated by the Finance Royal Commission.
“What we are seeing however are positive signs in improving customer attitudes towards their banks as adverse publicity declines and findings are implemented by banks.
“A major challenge remaining for the big four banks is to reduce the increasing lead that the smaller banks have in satisfaction. In order to do this it is important for the big four to understand the many factors that drive the level of customer satisfaction and advocacy in banks.”
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