Customers fail to move banks despite the biggest institutions being involved in scandals
Westpac is the latest bank to be embroiled in a scandal but sadly many customers fail to move banks no matter how badly they behave. But ditching the financial giants might be the only way to make them listen.
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Dumped Westpac chief executive officer Brian Hartzer has packed up his plum office at the bank’s headquarters and exited the nation’s oldest financial institution.
He joins a club of bank bosses who have all been shown the door within the past two years. The exodus of dumped bank chiefs – who raked in eye-watering salaries – shows that when scandals occur under their watch they are often the first to go.
Mr Hartzer walks out with a healthy $2.7 million termination cheque in his back pocket but has lost a range of short-term and long-term bonus payments, and rightly so.
The conga line of departing bank bosses kickstarted with Commonwealth Bank boss Ian Narev, who in 2018 left the bank after a series of issues including a money-laundering scandal that occurred while he was in the top job.
Then we farewelled AMP boss Craig Meller, who fell on his sword after the financial services royal commission unveiled torrid allegations, including charging customers for services they never received. And, to add salt to the wound, AMP repeatedly lied to the regulator.
Next we had National Australia Bank boss Andrew Thorburn, who thought it was a brilliant idea to take extended leave during one of the most critical times in banking: when the final royal commission report was to be handed down.
No PR spin could make this sound OK, especially when NAB was exposed during the commission as charging fees to dead customers. Mr Thorburn was given the chop after a lambasting from banking royal commissioner Kenneth Hayne.
Next up and most recently is the American-born Mr Hartzer, whose sheer arrogance was displayed when he refused to step down as the Westpac boss despite the bank having allegations of 23 million breaches against it.
This involved international money transfers which enabled child exploitation in the Philippines and South-East Asia.
There was no coming back from such horrific allegations. So out the door he goes. And, finally, we have ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott, who is the last man standing, and surely must be feeling the pressure when he’s seeing other bank bosses around him come crashing down.
ANZ remains the only big four bank that at this point does not have any impending litigation from financial intelligence watchdog Austrac against it.
But what frustrates me most with the exiting CEOs is the lacklustre response by customers, who continue to bank with the big four.
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Many of us are appalled at what has gone on within these institutions which we trust with our hard-earned savings, yet do you hear of people saying they are going to switch banks?
No.
I don’t bank with the big four. I have banked with two of them previously but ditched them both because I could get better deals elsewhere.
The only way these banks will listen to customers is when people pack up and leave.
It’s not that hard to switch banks, but you must be prepared to put time and effort to do it.
Originally published as Customers fail to move banks despite the biggest institutions being involved in scandals
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