AMP, Westpac found wanting by customers

Market research platform Glow has released its inaugural Australian Banking Brand and Trust Index, which found non-majors as favourable to the big banks by the Australian public.

The study was conducted by Glow between 24 and 30 December 2019, on a representative sample of 1,233 adults, and then weighted according to ABS statistics.

The research aimed to shed light on customer sentiment towards Australia’s banks, in the aftermath of the royal commission, and found the non-majors claiming the crown in terms of trustworthiness and customer satisfaction.

Notably, Bendigo Bank claimed first position in two of the three key metrics in the study, scoring the highest ratings both in terms of trustworthiness, and in the likelihood of customers to recommend the bank to others.

Bendigo also achieved the third-highest score for customer satisfaction, at 88 per cent, with NAB’s digital division UBank taking home the gold at 92 per cent customer satisfaction.

Overall, ING appeared to also be held in high regard by the public, coming in second for customer satisfaction, likelihood to recommend to others, and tied second place for most trustworthy lender.

According to the results, AMP, Bank of China and Westpac were all labelled as the most untrustworthy institutions by the public, being the only banks to receive a negative score in the trustworthy index.

Additionally, Commonwealth Bank, ANZ and NAB all fell towards the bottom of the list in terms of satisfaction, trust, and likelihood to recommend to others.

The research also found that brand awareness for the sector’s fintech newcomers, including Xinja and 86 400, are all trending below the more established banks.

Commenting on the research, Tim Clover, founder and CEO at Glow said: “As the relationship between major banks and Australian consumers continues to be under the spotlight, it’s valuable to both parties to have a publicly available, quantifiable measure that reduces speculation and delivers data-driven evidence on the state of the industry across most known brands.

“Unbiased benchmarks that both competitors and consumers can access inherently [reward] banks who acknowledge and address their perceived level of trust or satisfaction in the public forum,” Mr Clover said.

“From an idealistic perspective, we hope that gaining transparency between all groups can lead to greater trust across the industry, and further exploration into public expectations of the behaviours, ethics and standards that drive it.”

[Related: Macquarie, ING, among host of non-majors to slash rates]

Hannah Dowling is a journalist for mortgage business, the leading source of news, opinion and strategy for professionals working in the mortgage industry.

Prior to joining the team at Mortgage Business, Hannah worked as a content producer for a podcast catering to property investors. She also spent 6 years working in the real estate sector at a local agency. 

Hannah graduated from Macquarie University with a Bachelor of Media and Journalism. 

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