Despite everything, people still trust their banks
Despite many of the highly adverse findings of the Royal Commission, new research suggests that most Australians continue to trust their banks.
The research, the Deloitte Australian Trust Index, was specifically designed to measure levels of customer trust and general trust influence factors and revealed that while customers were mostly trusted their own bank they were significantly less trusting of banks in general.
“Trust improves when it comes to my own bank as opposed to banks in general,” index author, Willem Punt said. “For instance, 36 per cent of the 2,000 plus Australian banking customers surveyed believe their bank has their best interests at heart, whereas only 21 per cent believe banks in general have their customers’ best interests at heart.”
“Also 49 per cent trust their own bank to keep its promises compared with 26 per cent in general,” he said.
“These results and those of the full index are particularly valuable given that culture and conduct will both get a very hard edge in the strengthened regulatory environment mooted by Commissioner Hayne who has signalled a greater role for the judiciary in ensuring accountability for significant and systemic poor conduct,” Punt said.
Another author of the research, Andy Bateman said the way forward to rebuild reputation and trust was far more about communities and relationships and far more about transactions.
“The companies that get this, at the deepest level, are exhibiting the kinds of behaviours that genuinely build trust.”
Recommended for you
Government has introduced a bill to Parliament to legislate the first stream of the QAR reforms.
ASIC now has a 1:1 ratio when it comes to court success in the enforcement of crypto activities and more action is expected as Treasury seeks to introduce a regulatory framework.
A leading governance body has hit out at “specialist interest groups proposing ad hoc law reform” when it comes to reforms of financial services legislation and believes an independent body is needed.
The release of ALRC’s final report into financial services legislation has highlighted financial advice as a “significant” focus as it seeks to reduce costs and help advisers understand their obligations, alongside the Quality of Advice Review.
