Non-major banks among most trusted brands in Australia

 Bendigo Bank and ING are the only lenders to make the 10 most trusted brands list, taking the third and 10th spots, respectively.

The results of Roy Morgan’s latest Net Trust Score survey of more than 4,000 Australians, reinforces earlier findings from the market research firm, which has shown that customer satisfaction was highest for non-major banks in the six months ending on 31 March 2018, with Bendigo Bank (87.5 per cent), ING (87.1 per cent), St George (84.6 per cent), Bankwest (84.6 per cent), and Bank of Queensland (83.1 per cent) ranking in the top five, while all of the majors ranked in the bottom half of the list, along with Suncorp.  

In the most recent survey, Bendigo Bank lost to supermarket chain ALDI and insurer NRMA, which occupied the first and second spots, respectively.

Also ranking in the 10 most trusted brands in Australia, according to the Net Trust Score survey, is Qantas (no. 4), Bunnings (no. 5), Kmart (no. 6), ABC Network (no. 7), IGA (no. 8), and Australia Post (no. 9).

According to Roy Morgan, important drivers of consumer trust are “reliability, customer focus, knowledgeable staff, ease of contact, and previous good experiences with the company”, while drivers of distrust centre around “perceptions of self-centredness, greed, and dishonest and deceitful business practices”

Since the commencement of the banking royal commission, numerous studies have pointed to declining trust in the major banks. A recent survey of 1,000 Australian consumers by Essential Media revealed that nearly half of respondents, or 47 per cent, have less trust in the major banks, while 14 per cent expressed greater trust in the big four.

The CEO of the Customer Owned Banking Association, Michael Lawrence, last month said that reduced consumer trust in the major banks is no surprise given the revelations aired during the banking royal commission hearings.

“Australians want a banking institution they can trust to put them first. Our model is solely customer-focused because 100 per cent of profits are used to benefit customers,” Mr Lawrence said at the time.

In another survey of more than 1,000 Australians conducted by Essential Media, almost a third of respondents, or 32 per cent, said they were more likely to consider switching banks in the wake of the royal commission’s findings.

However, Roy Morgan’s industry communications director, Norman Morris, in June said that the decline in customer satisfaction and willingness to advocate for major banks can be attributed to a number of factors, not just negative publicity around the banking royal commission.

“Apart from the potential for adverse publicity to impact on bank customers, our modelling shows that many other factors that directly affect them drive bank advocacy and satisfaction levels. These include areas such as interest rates, fees and charges, customer experience, reliability, security and product offering,” Mr Morris said.