Big four close satisfaction gap

AUSTRALIA'S big four banks closed the gap on their smaller rivals in customer satisfaction this year.

AUSTRALIA'S big four banks closed the gap on their smaller rivals in customer satisfaction this year.

The latest monthly data from DBM Consultant's Business Financial Services Monitor shows business customer satisfaction with the big banks climbed to a record last month, continuing a trend seen throughout this year.

By contrast, satisfaction with banks allied to the big four such as Bankwest and Bank of Melbourne is almost unchanged across the year, while satisfaction with the regionals such as Bendigo Bank and Bank of Queensland has fallen.

DBM managing director Dhruba Gupta said the big banks were still trailing their smaller rivals, but the gap had closed by a significant margin.

"The majors trailed the regional banks by 1.4 points at the beginning of the year but have closed that gap to 0.9 points with the latest month's results," he said. "That's a significant loss of competitive advantage for the regional banks. The major banks have been impressive this year, particularly Westpac and CBA. They have made a very concerted effort and their success is reflected by their improved satisfaction scores through 2011."

Mr Gupta said Commonwealth Bank improved the most in overall business satisfaction ratings this year, while Westpac consistently had the highest overall ratings.

He said the only weakness in the results for the big banks had been in the small market (turnover $1 million up to $5m).

Business satisfaction with ANZ Bank at a whole-of-market level increased from 7 in October to 7.1 last month, ranking it equal third with National Australia Bank. The increase mirrored an improvement in the micro market from 7 to 7.1. Satisfaction with ANZ was largely unchanged.