Majors' mortgage satisfaction slumps

February saw the big four’s home loan customer satisfaction drop below September 2015 levels, prior to the majors' home loan rate increase, according to figures by Roy Morgan Research.

Home loan customer satisfaction rates for ANZ and CBA was 2.3 percentage points below their September 2015 levels.

This takes ANZ and CBA to an overall home loan customer satisfaction rate of 75.1 per cent and 79.7 per cent respectively.

Home loan customer satisfaction for Westpac and NAB decreased by 0.7 percentage points and 0.1 percentage points respectively since September 2015, giving the majors an overall home loan customer satisfaction rate of 80.1 per cent and 78.7 per cent respectively.

“The home loan rate increase announced by the big four banks in October appears to have maintained some negative impact on customers right through to February 2016,” Roy Morgan Research industry communications director, Norman Morris, said.

“This is shown by the fact that all of the big four home loan customers remain below the satisfaction levels seen immediately prior to the increase.

“It is worth noting that despite the negative publicity directed at the major banks over the last few months, satisfaction levels remain close to historically high levels and well above levels seen over the last ten years.”

The research revealed that ING Direct recorded the strongest result in February, with its home loan customer satisfaction rate standing at 94.6 per cent.

This was followed by ME Bank with a home loan customer satisfaction rate of 90.8 per cent, Bankwest at 87.3 per cent, Bendigo Bank at 87.0 per cent, BankSA at 83.8 per cent, Suncorp at 83.5 per cent and St George at 83.4 per cent.

“Competition in the home loan market is likely to remain strong and the higher satisfaction of the smaller banks’ home loan customers presents a major challenge,” Mr Morris said.

“In addition, any adverse publicity regarding rate increases or any other negative issues are generally focused on the big four banks.”

[Related: Mortgage 'churn' between major banks on the rise]