NZ banks outscore Aussies in survey

In the survey, TSB and Co-Operative scored a 99 per cent customer satisfaction rating, followed closely by SBS Bank, at 98 per cent and Kiwibank, at 96 per cent. Photo / NZ Herald

Kiwi-owned banks are well ahead of their Aussie counterparts, according to a new customer satisfaction survey - and their bosses say they're not surprised.

TSB Bank, The Co-operative Bank, SBS Bank and Kiwibank achieved the highest score for customer satisfaction, a Consumer NZ survey has shown.

Consumer NZ head Sue Chetwin said she thought Kiwis wanting to support Kiwi businesses was a contributing factor, and it was good to see local banks scoring well.

"Given that we've just been through a global financial crisis it's good to see that New Zealand banks are still held in high regard and consumers feel comfortable with them."

In the survey, TSB and Co-Operative scored a 99 per cent customer satisfaction rating, followed closely by SBS Bank, at 98 per cent and Kiwibank, at 96 per cent.

TSB Bank chief executive Kevin Murphy said the Taranaki bank had a proud history of keeping its customers happy.

"You've got to keep working at it and we're very proud of the way our staff have adopted customer satisfaction as their mantra."

The Co-operative Bank boss Bruce McLachlan said the result confirmed what he already knew. "That's what we do, it's who we are, it's the way we are. It's just the reality of our business - our customers love us."

SBS Bank's head Wayne Evans said as a member-driven bank, owned by its customers, SBS was very focused on their experience.

"So these satisfaction ratings are an important measure of our success."

Kiwibank spokesman Bruce Thompson said the result was encouraging, but showed there was still room for improvement and the bank would strive to be even better in the future

Mr Thompson said he didn't think the rating was simply due to Kiwis supporting Kiwi businesses: "A customer won't accept a lower quality of service simply because of Kiwi ownership."

Local banks also rated higher on specific factors including "value for money" - where more than 90 per cent of the Co-operative Bank, SBS and TSB customers rated their bank highly, compared with about half of ANZ and Westpac customers.

The larger banks were weaker on their overall service ratings and despite improving since the last survey, ANZ remained the bottom-ranked bank on 87 per cent.

"Our customer feedback says we're good on service, and we are consistently improving, but we're always trying to do better," an ANZ spokesman said.

A BNZ spokeswoman said the bank took customer service seriously, and welcomed feedback that could help the bank met needs better.

A Westpac spokeswoman said the bank was continuously assessing its rates and fees to ensure they were at an appropriate level based on the service provided.