Consumer NZ's latest bank customer satisfaction survey shows, once again, smaller New Zealand-owned banks coming out ahead of their bigger Australian-owned rivals.
The Co-operative Bank and TSB came out on top with Westpac last.
In KiwiSaver, Simplicity, Milford Funds and Generate Investment Management came out on top, with ANZ and ASB near the bottom.
“Overall customer satisfaction levels at The Co-operative Bank and TSB are impressive compared to the behemoths like ASB and Westpac,” said Consumer NZ investigative team leader Rebecca Styles.
“Yet again, the banks with the largest market share and biggest profits are failing to keep their customers as satisfied as the smaller banks,” said Styles.
TSB has earned Consumer’s People’s Choice Award for the eighth year in a row – receiving well above average scores for its value for money, call centre service, and how it deals with problems and complaints.
Styles said The Co-operative Bank "performed exceptionally well" – ranking first in each of the 13 major satisfaction areas.
“Its stand out performance has seen The Co-operative Bank eligible for our People’s Choice status for the second year in a row.”
Consumer NZ says an "impressive 83%" of customers are very satisfied with the service they’re getting from The Co-operative Bank, the highest score achieved in the survey.
The Co-operative Bank Chief Executive Mark Wilkshire says he is proud of the reputation the Bank has with its customers.
"We are thrilled to see that our focus on putting customers first has been recognised through the best judge of this – our customers themselves," Wilkshire said.
The Consumer survey asked customers if they would recommend their bank, with The Co-operative Bank achieving 31% higher than its nearest competitor.
"We put people before profit. With everything we do, our customers are at the centre, and I’m proud to see through this survey that our customers feel the same.
"We regularly survey our customers to understand what they like and dislike about The Co-operative Bank – and find our customer service is the core reason for recommending The Co-operative Bank to others," Wilkshire says.
As a co-operative, the Bank shares a portion of its profits with its customers by way of a rebate – providing more than $15 million to customers since 2013.
Consumer's Styles said Westpac was the worst-performing bank in the satisfaction survey for the second year running.
"Westpac has a sizeable share of the market at 19%, but its branch and call centre service, timeliness to respond to inquiries, and fairness when dealing with consumer issues is leaving many customers wanting."
Consumer NZ also gauged New Zealanders’ satisfaction with their KiwiSaver provider. The results show the big banks are falling short of the mark for their KiwiSaver customers too.
"Simplicity, Milford Funds and Generate Investment Management received our People’s Choice seal of approval for 2023," said Styles.
The People’s Choice providers are all previous winners, demonstrating continuously high customer satisfaction with their services.
"At the other end of the spectrum, ANZ Investments and ASB Group Investments ranked 10th and 11th respectively (out of 13).
"ANZ scored below average for the seven main performance measures included in our survey.
"ASB scored below average for ethical investments and fees."
Bottom of the pile is Amanah Ethical NZ – the lowest-ranked provider when it comes to updating customers about their investments, access to account information, and dealing fairly with problems and complaints.
Additional reporting by David Hargreaves
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.