Customers’ satisfaction levels with the big four banks home loan service has dropped, probably off the back of their home loan rate rises last October.
The satisfaction ratings come from Roy Morgan Research and show home loan customer satisfaction rates for ANZ and Commonwealth have dropped 2.3 per cent percentage below their September levels, which was right before they lifted their rates.
As for the other majors, Westpac satisfaction slipped by 0.7 percentage points since September, and NAB fell by 0.1 percentage points.
Overall, the majors recorded a home loan customer satisfaction rate of 78.7 per cent.
Roy Morgan Research industry communications director Norman Morris explained the statistics to The Adviser.
“The home loan rate increase announced by the big four banks in October appears to have maintained some negative impact on customers right through to February 2016,” he said.
“This is shown by the fact that all of the big four home loan customers remain below the satisfaction levels seen immediately prior to the increase.”
“It is worth noting that despite the negative publicity directed at the major banks over the last few months, satisfaction levels remain close to historically high levels and well above levels seen over the last ten years.”
The best-performed financial institution for satisfaction was ING Direct who recorded a satisfaction rating of 94.6 per cent.
Mr Morris said negative publicity surrounding rate increases generally hit the big banks the hardest.
“Competition in the home loan market is likely to remain strong and the higher satisfaction of the smaller banks’ home loan customers presents a major challenge,” he told The Adviser.
