While most industry bodies are claiming the banks were let off lightly by the Royal Commission, National Australia Bank may think otherwise as Roy Morgan’s latest survey reveals it is now the most distrusted bank brand in Australia, suffering a doubling of distrust year on year.
The research firm conducted a survey in January before the release of Hayne’s report, which actually revealed the Commonwealth Bank of Australia had the highest level of distrust.
When the survey was re-conducted in February in the week following the report’s release, NAB had the highest level of distrust, with 53.7 per cent of respondents citing distrust as opposed to 36.9 per cent in January.
The bank’s level of trust unsurprisingly plummeted from 18.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent, also producing the banking sector’s worst Net Trust Score at -42.2 per cent, with the other three major banks sitting around minus 20.
“This is the highest level of distrust we have ever seen for a bank brand in Australia,” said Roy Morgan chief executive officer, Michele Levine.
Levine said it was a startling result, and called on company directors of banks to rebuild trust in the industry.
“These directors on the boards of banks need truly independent reporting over time of their brand’s trust – and more critically, their distrust,” she said. “Rather than taking solace in the relatively strong levels of satisfaction that the banks still enjoy among their main customers, company directors need to explore the dangerous underbelly of distrust.”
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