CBA business customers not feeling the love

Commonwealth Bank's big investment in upgrading its business banking service has yet to translate into higher customer satisfaction, a new survey has found.

East & Partners asked 850 companies, with turnover of  $5 million to $500 million a year, to rate their banks on a scale of zero to 10.

CBA was ranked bottom with a score of 4.14. ANZ and Westpac scored 5.07, National Australia Bank 5.61 and St George 6.05.

Regional banks (not reported separately) had an average rating of 6.54 and foreign banks had an average score of 5.3.

The result is disappointing for CBA, which has launched a number of business banking initiatives over the past year. In May it launched Local Business Banking, an SME service that included a new website, call centre and a bigger team of relationship managers.

CBA executive general manager Local Business Banking, Michael Blomfield, said the bank was reducing the average number of customers per relationship manager from 600 to 250.

Late last year the bank launched CommBiz, a contemporary online transaction system.

East & Partners principal analyst Paul Dowling said satisfaction in business banking was all about relationship management numbers and expertise. Dowling said: "They want to feel the love."

Dowling said the importance of the relationship in business banking meant there was a strong link between satisfaction and market share in business banking. That link was not always so clear in retail banking.

East & Partners senior manager client advisory, Robert Morgan, said St George had more relationship managers per customer than any of the other big banks.

Dowling said there were always lags in business developments flowing through into customer satisfaction. But even allowing for that CBA may need to look at its business banking strategy.

East & Partners plans to publish its business banking customer satisfaction monitor monthly.