Customer-owned banking sector in “different ballpark”

New figures released by Roy Morgan show that the customer-owned banking sector is in a “completely different ballpark” from the major banks when it comes to customer satisfaction and advocacy.

This is at a time when trust in the banking sector is more important than ever, the Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) said, citing the Roy Morgan Research Net Promoter Score.

The major banks are at minus 6 compared to the customer-owned sector at plus 26, a trend that has remained consistently the case for the last two years, the industry body, which represents mutual banks, credit unions and building societies, said.

COBA CEO Michael Lawrence said this sustained performance was a reminder to regulators not to punish smaller banking institutions for the misconduct of the major banks.

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“We can see from the net promoter score results that there is a real, compelling choice for consumers beyond the big four banks,” Lawrence said.

“Our sector leads the field on customer satisfaction and advocacy. Let’s not penalise trusted institutions.”

Lawrence said the industry was experiencing wave after wave of regulatory change, with little attention being devoted to ensuring this regulation is proportionate.

“We need to make sure that regulation is proportionate, tightly targeted and doesn’t harm competition,” he said.

“Banking must be strongly regulated but excessive regulatory costs damage competition and consumers ultimately pay the price.

“With net promoter scores and customer satisfaction levels like these, the focus from regulators and policy makers should be on proportionate regulation, which will strengthen the capacity of smaller competitors to apply competitive pressure to the major banks.”