In just one month New Zealanders became marginally less satisfied with their banks, according to the Roy Morgan New Zealand Banking Customer Satisfaction Survey for the month of July. But there are some improved performances to report.
In the six months to July 2010, the average customer satisfaction level for the five major banks was 77.1 percent, down a little from the 77.6 percent in June, but an increase of 1.6 percent points compared to the six months to January 2010.
Out of the five major banks involved in the survey, National Bank galloped its way past former frontrunners ASB to achieve the highest customer satisfaction rate of 81.8 percent, with ASB not far behind on 81.5 percent.
The award for most improved goes to the Bank of New Zealand, after it gained 4.3 percent points and achieved a customer satisfaction rating of 77.1 percent. Westpac and ANZ, however, went in the opposite direction.
Once again, TSB retained its position as the bank with highest satisfaction rating on 90.7 percent, reversing its recent decline, and Kiwibank dropped down to 84.2 percent.
Roy Morgan Research head of New Zealand operations, Mark Dansey, says the results reveal stable levels of satisfaction overall compared to June.
“There has been good progress for some major banks over the last six months. The National Bank and ASB in particular have been standout performers amongst the major banks in terms of customer satisfaction. While the BNZ has a lower rating than the National and ASB, it has made the best progress over the last six months. Most banks have shown higher satisfaction levels compared to six months ago, which is a good sign as the economy slowly emerges from the recession. There is no room for complacency, however, as the latest data for July shows that improvement overall may have stalled.”
