Customers who bank online are the most satisfied

Roy Morgan Research found that, over an average four-week period, 62.3 per cent of bank customers deal with their bank by internet, compared with 33.9 per cent using a branch.

Among the Big Four banks, CBA has the highest satisfaction rating for online banking, at 92 per cent. This compares with a satisfaction rating of 88.6 per cent for branch banking and 82.5 per cent for telephone banking.

National Australia Bank has an online banking satisfaction rating of 89.7 per cent, a branch banking rating of 86 per cent and a telephone rating of 75.5 per cent.

ANZ has an online banking satisfaction rating of 88.8 per cent, a branch banking rating of 87.1 per cent and a telephone banking rating of 76.9 per cent.

Westpac has an online banking satisfaction rating of 87.9 per cent, a branch banking rating of 87.7 per cent and a telephone banking rating of 78.1 per cent.

Roy Morgan did not break down the ratings of other banks by channel but in looking at other banks overall it found that the satisfaction rating for branch banking was slightly higher, at 90.7 per cent, than the rating for online banking, at 89.3 per cent.

This may reflect that fact that many smaller institutions have not made the same investment in online banking services that the big banks have. It might also reflect the commitment to "friendly" branch service at small banks and mutual.

Overall, customer satisfaction levels with the major banks, mutuals and foreign banks rose over the 12 months to January.

Victoria Teachers Mutual Bank leads the field with a rating of 96 per cent, followed by Teachers Mutual Bank (94.9 per cent) and bankmecu (94.7 per cent).

Among the major banks, Commonwealth has a satisfaction rating of 81.9 percent, followed by Westpac (81.3 per cent), NAB (80.9 per cent) and ANZ (78.9 per cent).