The satisfaction level of the big four banks’ personal customers in the six months to October 2015 was 80.9%, down 0.3% points from September (81.2%). This was due to a drop of 0.8% points in home loan customer satisfaction (to 79.2%) and a 0.2% decline for other customers (to 81.3%).

These are the latest findings from Roy Morgan’s Single Source survey of over 50,000 people pa.

All four big banks show some decline in satisfaction

In October, all of the big four banks showed some decline in satisfaction, although they still remain at historically high levels. The CBA declined by only 0.1% point (to 82.4%) and remains the clear leader among this group. The ANZ had the largest drop (down 0.9% points to 78.6%), the NAB was down 0.4% (to 81.0%) and Westpac lost 0.3% points (to 79.7%).

The big four were down by 0.3% points in total (to 80.9%); the other banks showed no change and remained on 86.7%. The mutual sector (banks, building societies and credit unions) increased their satisfaction by 0.1% to remain well ahead with 91.4%.

Consumer Banking Satisfaction

Source:  Roy Morgan Research Consumer Satisfaction Report 2015, average six-month sample n=25,617.

Including the banks outside of the big four, Teachers Mutual Bank remained the best performing bank overall with 95.8% satisfaction, followed by Suncorp (90.5%) and Bendigo Bank (89.9%). The Bank of Melbourne (88.5% satisfaction) and St George (83.8%) were both clearly ahead of Westpac (79.7%). It is worth noting that of the 19 banks outside of the big four in this survey, 15 scored higher than the top performer of the big four (the CBA with 82.4%).

Big four home-loan customers show a drop in satisfaction

The satisfaction levels of the big fours’ home loan customers declined in October to 79.2%, down from 80.0% in September. The ANZ showed the biggest decline, down to 75.8% (from 77.4%), followed by NAB (down to 77.6% from 78.8%) and Westpac down to 80.0% (from 80.8%). The CBA was only down 0.2% points to 81.8%.

Satisfaction of Home Loan Customers cf. Other Customers

Source: Roy Morgan Research Single Source; April 2015 - September 2015 (n = 25,834); Source: Roy Morgan Research Single Source; May 2015 - October 2015 (n = 25,215)

The ANZ, CBA and NAB all have lower customer satisfaction levels among their home loan customers compared to their other customers. Westpac on the other hand has a slightly higher level of satisfaction among their home loan customers compared to their non-home loan customers.

ING Direct leads in home loan customer satisfaction

Among the 11 major home loan banks, ING Direct home loan customers have the highest satisfaction with 94.7%. They are followed by ME Bank (88.9%), BankSA (88.6%) and Suncorp (88.1%).

Bank Home Loan Customer Satisfaction^**

Source:  Roy Morgan Single Source, May 2015 - October 2015 (n = 6,912)..

The big four banks remain well below their smaller competitors when it comes to home loan customer satisfaction

“The latest data shows that despite a long period of stable and low housing loan rates, home loan customer satisfaction remains below that of other customers, even though many of these non-home loan customers would be negatively impacted by low deposit rates. The results for the six months to October show a further decline in home loan satisfaction; however, the rise in home loan rates announced in late October by the big four is unlikely to have had any real impact on the results yet. Only the coming months will tell us how these heavily publicised interest rate rises have affected satisfaction. 

“Competition in the home loan market is likely to remain strong and the higher satisfaction with the smaller banks presents a major challenge, particularly as any adverse publicity regarding rate increases is generally focused on the big four banks.”  says Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research