Aussie bankers failing to serve

IF the customer is always right, Australian banks must be doing a few things wrong, with a survey showing most banks "could do better" at keeping clients happy.

Aussie bankers failing to serve

IF the customer is always right, Australian banks must be doing a few things wrong.

Business banking is a key growth driver for banks, especially in the medium-sized business market where almost two-thirds of companies will take on debt to grow in the next six months.

But in a segment that still shows considerable "churn'' - the switching of businesses between lenders - customers aren't as satisfied as they might be.

In East & Partners' inaugural Business Banking Customer Satisfaction Monitor, which polled 850 business customers with yearly turnover between $5 million and $500 million, the best rating for a major local bank (St George) was 6.05 out of 10.

In teachers' terms, that amounts to a "could do better'' response across the board, says East & Partners client advisory senior manager Rob Morgan.

"As was clear in the most recent round of bank reporting, business banking is a greater area of focus than ever for Australian banks because business customers are more lucrative than retail ones, need more banking services and provide the key growth platform for banks,'' he says.

"(But) the ordinary satisfaction results in this first monitor indicate that servicing business customers to the level they increasingly demand and expect remains a work in progress for Australian banks.''

The Big Four banks were rated no better than 5.61 out of 10 (NAB), with ANZ and Westpac at 5.07.
Commonwealth Bank, which this year announced a national rollout of 25 dedicated business banking services by 2010, rated a lowly 4.14.

Regional banks scored a collective rating of 6.54 while international banks received 5.22.

Businesses clearly want a dedicated "relationship manager''  to be their port of call with a bank, Mr Morgan says.

The least-used channel of interaction is a call centre, while interestingly, online banking rated the poorest of all channels.

"Clearly, businesses want to see people and they want people in front of them,'' Mr Morgan says.

"There are other factors affecting an overall satisfaction rating . . . relationship managers showing genuine interest in the customer, their knowledge of the customer's industry.

"But clearly you've got to be getting relationship managers in front of business in the first place otherwise you are on a sticky wicket.''

Mr Morgan agrees banks who satisfy medium-sized businesses are more likely to rate well with smaller businesses.

"(But) to be honest, arguably the micro-business, the sub-$5 million, simply aren't served as well,'' he says.