Local flavour makes for bank winners

It seems that locally owned banks rule the roost when it comes to customer satisfaction, with three New Zealand banks taking out the top awards in Consumer NZ’s latest awards.

Monday, April 24th 2017, 10:23AM

by Miriam Bell

Consumer NZ has just announced the results of its 2017 People’s Choice Awards and TSB Bank, The Co-operative Bank and Kiwibank have taken out the top spots.

TSB Bank came in first, for the second year running, with an overall customer satisfaction result of 87%.

It was followed by first-time winners The Co-operative Bank with a 77% result and Kiwibank with a result of 71%.

Consumer NZ general manager – business Derek Bonnar said the local banks outperformed their Australian-owned rivals when it came to keeping customers happy.

The survey found these three New Zealand-owned banks were a step ahead when it came to customer satisfaction, he said.

“Two-thirds of TSB Bank and Kiwibank customers rated doing business with a New Zealand-owned company as a key benefit.

“Local bank customers were also less likely to be paying monthly account fees – as a result, they were more likely to feel the bank’s fees were reasonable.”

The People’s Choice winners are chosen via Consumer NZ’s banking survey, which has a sample of 1085 New Zealanders aged 18.

Bonnar said a brand must be a standout performer in terms of customer satisfaction to receive a People’s Choice award and it was unusual to have three winners in one category.

“However, all three banks deserve the recognition and we congratulate them on an outstanding achievement.”

All three of the banks chief executives said they were very pleased with the results and pointed to a focus on customer service as being key.

Kiwibank chief executive Paul Brock said the award endorses the need for New Zealand-owned banks to provide choice for consumers.

“It also reinforces the need to never lose focus on customer service.

“Customer support, loyalty and satisfaction are the true measures of how successful the bank really is.”

The Consumer NZ results come at a time when banks are facing challenging times with higher funding costs and increased regulation from the Reserve Bank.

New Zealand’s biggest four banks, which are all subsidiaries of Australian banks, also face some pressure from their parent banks in some areas.

This has led to tighter lending conditions and rising interest rates for bank customers.

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Tags: banks Kiwibank The Co-operative Bank TSB