Customer-owned banks lead in satisfaction, advocacy – report

At a time when the financial services industry has come under increased scrutiny, the customer owned banking sector leads in customer satisfaction and advocacy.

Figures released recently on the Roy Morgan Research Net Promoter Score scale revealed that the customer owned banking sector is “in a completely different ballpark from the major banks”. The latter scored a minus six while the customer owned sector was at plus 26.   

In a statement, COBA CEO Michael Lawrence said the sustained performance serves as a reminder to regulators to “not punish smaller banking institutions for the misconduct of major banks”.

The net promoter score results show that there is a real, compelling choice for customers other than the big four, according to Lawrence.   

For him, the wave of regulatory changes resulting from the Royal Commission’s hearings is made with the big four in mind, and with less attention in making sure the regulations are proportionate.

“That’s why we have launched the #MoreThan4 campaign,” Lawrence said. “We need to make sure that regulation is proportionate, tightly targeted and doesn’t harm competition.”

While banking must be strongly regulated, excessive regulatory costs harm competition and customers are ultimately the ones who suffer, he added. With such net promoter scores and customer satisfaction levels, regulators and policy makers should focus “on proportionate regulation, which will strengthen the capacity of smaller competitors to apply competitive pressure to the major banks.”