'Good service more important than brand it's from'

Concern over future of National Bank brand 'storm in teacup' with 99% of customers just wanting good service, says ANZ NZ boss

2nd Mar 12, 4:05pm by Gareth Vaughan

By Gareth Vaughan

The ANZ Banking Group is still yet to decide whether to ditch the National Bank brand, but ANZ New Zealand CEO David Hisco says 99% of customers don't really care about brands so long as they get good service.

Hisco told interest.co.nz that, having kicked off debate with staff and customers last year about the future of the National Bank brand the feedback suggests most people are focused on good customer service rather than whether it comes from a staff member working under the ANZ or National Bank name.

"We wanted to get the debate going last year to really talk about it with our staff more than anybody else to get their views on it," Hisco said.

"And I think it has been really useful because generally the theme coming through from customers and staff in the work that we’ve done essentially suggests that 99% of people don’t really care as long as the person who serves them at the bank is going to be there the next day and the customer service levels are strong."

"And if you look at what we’ve been doing, we’ve been focused on improving our customer satisfaction and all those sorts of things," he added.

"I think it’s almost a little bit of a storm in a teacup for a minority of people. The majority of people just say 'I want to deal with the guy I deal with and as long as that’s not any different I’ll be happy'."

The ANZ Banking Group bought National Bank from Britain's Lloyds TSB in October 2003 for A$4.915 billion (NZ$6.3 billion), excluding a dividend paid to Lloyds of NZ$575 million from National Bank's retained earnings, and kept both the ANZ and National Bank brands and branch networks. In 2010 ANZ renewed its rights to use the Lloyds black horse on a green and white background as the National Bank logo until the end of 2014. Any further renewal on use of the logo would be subject to negotiation with Lloyds.

The National Bank consistently records stronger customer satisfaction ratings than ANZ as demonstrated in the Nielsen survey below.

Last year ANZ NZ spent NZ$30.342 million advertising the ANZ brand - which was an official Rugby World Cup sponsor - and just NZ$4.292 million advertising the National Bank, according to Nielsen AIS base rate card data.

Last November Hisco told interest.co.nz the issue of most concern to people with the future of the National Bank brand up in the air was the potential closure of branches and loss of front line staff.

"I've already given an assurance to our front line staff that their jobs are safe so we've closed that issue down and they're all comfortable with that. We need all our front line staff to serve our customers," Hisco said then.

This article was first published in our email for paid subscribers this morning. See here for more details and to subscribe.

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.

6 Comments

by Philly | 2nd Mar 12, 5:59pm 1330664368

Dunno about the "99%" figure. Everyone knows that the ANZ service has been rubbish since forever. I read somewhere that ANZ reckoned on keeping about 90% of customers after the merge, & that loss rate was acceptable to them. (can't find a link to that)

We are customers of National, & will be gone toot sweet when the brand is dropped. Already I notice the difference with "back office" stuff (fully merged with ANZ already). They sent me three new cards recently when I only asked for a single replacement, & then dicked me around chronic when I rang them about it.

The only question is, "which bank to go to?" Obviously we would prefer to see the profits stay in NZ. So.... TSB? Kiwibank? Cooperative Bank? A credit union?

Suggestions welcome.

Cheers

by Roger Witherspoon | 3rd Mar 12, 11:50am 1330728629

I agree, I have had good service from National over the years, following bad service from ANZ. The re-organisation seems to be gutting National business staff of any and all discretion and transferring that to head office, wherever that is. Am I just paranoid? Perhaps, but I am not alone, the people I work with have done a lot of business with Kiwibank and BNZ that would have previously been done with National.

by MortgageBelt | 2nd Mar 12, 7:15pm 1330668903

Interest rates are on the rise. National Bank raised rates this week on the 'low interest Visa" from 13.95% to 20.45% - a hike of 6.5% (for cash advances). What was the rationale for this rate rise? Is there a underlying wholesale rate that influences credit card interest rates?

by Micks | 5th Mar 12, 9:46am 1330894014

What Hisco doesn't say, is that ANZ's service rating is the worst of all the major Banks. So when they ditch the National brand, expect an exodus of customers to other banks especially if service is important to them. Interesting to note Kiwibank's declin in the ratings. Seems their customers are getting sick of the long lines. TSB is the clear NZ owned winner and ASB the best of the larger banks. No surprises there.

by Weka | 5th Mar 12, 2:19pm 1330910373

Used to bank with ANZ (some time ago) and moved to National because of poor service. Whilst National used to be good they have been seriously missing the mark lately, so I am giving Kiwibank a go and have found them to be far better than ANZ/National in the short time I have been with them. Basically if you don't get what you expect, don't be afraid to pick up your money/business and go elsewhere to someone who is prepared to give you what you want. Don't ever just accept what you are told, negotiate hard and relentlessly question them if you are not getting a fair deal...

by Weka | 5th Mar 12, 2:19pm 1330910379