Mutual bank rocks satisfaction

Ian Rogers

 

Teachers Mutual Bank is the benchmark in Australian banking, with a member satisfaction rating of 95 per cent.

Mutual banks and credit unions have recorded scores in the 90s in the past in the long running surveys by Roy Morgan Research.

If 95 per cent isn’t up there with the best ever, it’s as good as the best, considering Teachers Mutual Bank is among the handful of mutual banks building scale on its own terms.

With $13 billion in assets, Teachers Mutual recorded growth of more than 6 per cent on the lending side over the last year, APRA data shows.

And growth of 9.5 per cent on the deposit side.

“It’s all about frontline teams, and the people in our branches and call centres” Anthony Hughes, the bank’s CEO told Banking Day.

“To be presented this recognition again, having also received it in 2022, shows that we’re doing something very right. 

“This result underscores how our customers value the helpfulness of our teams, the quality of our products, and the trust they have with our bank.”

Hughes confirmed TMB continued to invest heavily to back up this member value.

“There’s top line growth in our member base” he said. The bank has 242,000 members.

“We’re investing in technology, rolling our new lending platform”. 

This is in place for internal home loan originations and is being rolled out to the broker channel. Simpology is the supplier.

Now 10 months into his role (having moved across from Westpac) Hughes said the bank was going through a strategic refresh, one that inevitably will have strong digital and service themes.

With a portfolio of five related bank brands to manage and burdened, like all banks, by increasing compliance and regulatory demands (and inflation), last year’s result – with expense growth of 14 per cent – suggests Teachers has plenty of work to do on costs, without sacrificing service levels.

“We have work to do on that front” Hughes conceded, while expecting the cost to income ratio to improve in the FY2024 result to be reported in a couple of months time.