The four major banks are closing the gap in business satisfaction against smaller rivals. Satisfaction with the Big Four climbed to a new record high in November, continuing a trend seen throughout 2011, according to the DBM Consultants Business Financial Services Monitor.
DBM managing director Dhruba Gupta said that the major banks were still trailing their smaller rivals, but the gap had closed by a significant margin.
“The Big Four 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,” Gupta said.
Research showed that satisfaction for regional banks had fallen during the year. “That’s a significant loss of competitive advantage for the regional banks,” Gupta said.
The monitor showed that Commonwealth Bank was the biggest improver among the Big Four in overall business satisfaction, while Westpac consistently had the highest overall ratings.
“The major banks have been impressive this year, particularly Westpac and CBA,” Gupta said. “They have made a very concerted effort, and their success is reflected by their improved satisfaction scores through 2011.”
Gupta said that the only weakness in the results for the Big Four had been the small market, where smaller banks achieved strong gains in satisfaction at the expense of the major banks.