Business prefers smaller banks

Many businesses believe they receive better service from smaller rural and regional banks than the big four, a new monthly survey on business banking preferences has found.

Independent research house East & Partners surveyed 850 businesses in December to gauge their satisfaction levels with the service they receive from banks.

Businesses gave the biggest thumbs-up to regional banks such as Bendigo Bank and Bank of Queensland, giving them a collective rating of 6.61/10 and putting them well ahead of the big banks.

The highest ranking non-regional bank was St George, its 6.13 rating for December up from 6.05 the previous month, followed by the National Australia Bank, up from 5.61 to 5.84. 

The Westpac and Commonwealth banks were the poorest performing banks in the survey. Westpac received a 5.03 average customer satisfaction rating in December, down from 5.07 in November, while the Commonwealth continued to lag in last place among the big banks with a 4.09 rating.

East & Partners head of market analysis, Robert Morgan says the results of the big four banks are “very ordinary”.
 
“It would appear from the results in this December Monitor that these service improvements are yet to significantly reach and resonate with business customers, and that banks’ overall proposition to business customers remains a work in progress,” Morgan says.