Its customers are also the most likely to own or to be paying off homes
Macquarie has the wealthiest customers among the larger Australian banks, with customer net wealth per capita at a market-leading $943,000, according to new financial data from Roy Morgan’s Wealth Report.
Customers of the bank not only have higher incomes but are also more likely to own or be paying off homes, a significant source of wealth in Australia.
St George Bank follows in second place with a net wealth per capita of $662,000, driven by its customer base centred in Sydney, where housing prices are the highest in the country.
The latest Roy Morgan Wealth Report ranked Westpac at third – the highest among the top four banks, with a net wealth per capita of $646,000. Its customers are predominantly property owners, contributing to their wealth, and are typically older, with a substantial proportion being Baby Boomers.
The Bank of Queensland takes fourth place with a net wealth per capita of $614,000, benefiting from its strong presence in Brisbane, where property prices have recently surged.
ING, the only exclusively digital bank among the larger banks, reports a net wealth per capita of $503,000. Despite their high personal incomes, ING customers are younger, primarily from Gen X and Gen Y, and therefore have had less time to accumulate wealth.
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) has the lowest net wealth per capita among the major banks, at $474,000. Its customer base includes a higher proportion of Gen Z individuals, who are younger and have had fewer opportunities to build wealth.
The Roy Morgan data, covering the 12 months to March 2024, shows the average net wealth per capita for Australians aged 14 and over at $503,000. Smaller regional banks and credit unions often report net wealth per capita below this average.
“Although overall net wealth per capita in Australia is $503,000, the level of wealth varies greatly between the customers of the larger banks,” said Michele Levine (pictured above), chief executive of Roy Morgan.
“These wide variations in overall net wealth per capita across the larger banks has a lot to do with real estate prices in Sydney, which are higher than anywhere else in Australia. Another factor that helps explain the difference in overall net wealth per capita between the banks is the banks’ generation profile – the proportion that fall into the Interwar, Baby Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z generations.
“Understanding these differences between locations and generations in net wealth levels across the larger banks presents valuable insights into how and why wealth is distributed in Australia as it is.”
Want to be regularly updated with mortgage news and features? Get exclusive interviews, breaking news, and industry events in your inbox – subscribe to our FREE daily newsletter. You can also follow us on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and LinkedIn.
