Satisfaction cycle has peaked

Retail customer satisfaction with the big banks has peaked. After climbing strongly throughout 2011, ratings for all the big banks have fallen during the first quarter of the year.

According to the latest Roy Morgan Research consumer banking customer satisfaction survey, support for NAB dropped 80 basis points in March, so its reign as the major with the highest satisfaction rating may be short-lived.

NAB has a rating of 77.5 per cent, followed by ANZ (77.4 per cent) and Commonwealth Bank (77 per cent).

Westpac's rating fell 90 basis points in the three months to March and now stands at 75.5 per cent.

Roy Morgan director Norman Morris said home-loan customers had marked their banks down hard, suggesting that the out-of-cycle rate increases are the main reason for the change in sentiment.

Overall, the most popular institution in the Roy Morgan survey was Victoria Teachers Credit Union, with a score of 94.4 per cent, followed by Newcastle Permanent Building Society (94 per cent) and Teachers Mutual Bank (93.5 per cent).