ANZ gives up customer satisfaction lead

ANZ has squandered the significant lead it enjoyed in retail customer satisfaction ratings for almost a decade with Westpac now just 10 basis points below ANZ's rating.

Roy Morgan Research issued its latest consumer-banking customer satisfaction survey yesterday, putting ANZ first among the Big Four with a rating of 76.6 per cent.

Westpac has shown a marked improvement in its rating over the past few months and scored 76.5 per cent.

National Australia Bank's rating was 74.7 per cent and Commonwealth Bank's was 74.2 per cent.

Back in 2006, ANZ's rating was in the mid-70s, while its rivals had scores as low as 62 per cent (Commonwealth Bank).

ANZ's rating has changed little since then, while its big bank rivals have closed the gap.

The Roy Morgan survey does not offer any analysis of this trend. One cause might be the change of chief executive.

ANZ's former CEO, John Macfarlane, had an obsession with customer satisfaction scores. His successor, Mike Smith, hardly ever mentions them.

Bankers say satisfaction ratings are not a good indicator of customer acquisition, but they do correlate highly with customer retention numbers.