Major bank satisfaction hits three-year low

Satisfaction with the banks declined in five of the six months ending June 2016, reaching a low of 79.5 per cent – down 1.9 per cent on the same time last year.

Norman Morris, industry communications director at Roy Morgan, said the negative trend was led by a 0.9 per cent decline in home loan satisfaction.

“Not only are the big four’s home-loan customers’ low satisfaction levels having a negative impact on overall satisfaction, but they all have lower satisfaction rates than the smaller banks’ home-loan customers, making them less competitive in this critical market,” he said.

Additionally, poor service, ‘exorbitant’ fees and a number of issues with branches all contributed to reduced satisfaction.

Mr Morris said more attention needed to be given to these issues in order to address falling satisfaction levels.

“Addressing these problem areas would not only be likely to increase satisfaction levels, but would also increase the proportion of ‘very satisfied’ customers, which would in turn increase the likelihood of customers becoming strong advocates – an objective of many banks,” he said.

The gap in satisfaction between the big four banks and mutual banks has widened in the last year, with mutual bank satisfaction sitting at 90.7 per cent.

[Related: Heritage Bank scoops up prestigious award]