Co-operative Bank comes out on top in Consumer NZ’s annual banking satisfaction survey

The following is a press release from Consumer NZ early on Thursday morning.

Who can you bank on? Consumer NZ reveals 2024’s best and worst banks

The bank with the smallest market share has New Zealand’s most satisfied customers, according to Consumer NZ’s annual banking satisfaction survey.

Jon Duffy, CEO at Consumer, says The Co-operative Bank, which has a market share of just 0.5%¹, claimed the top spot for overall satisfaction for the third year in a row.

“The Co-operative Bank has also won People’s Choice for the third year in a row, thanks to its high performance across 11 out of 13 measures of satisfaction. This is particularly impressive when we consider its size in New Zealand's banking landscape.

“As well as rating above average when it comes to its customers’ experiences, The Co-operative Bank, which is owned by its customers, actually won first place by a landslide.”

The Co-operative Bank scored 86% for overall satisfaction, whereas the rest of the banks received much lower satisfaction scores (between 54% and 66%).

Second place went to TSB, which narrowly missed out on Consumer’s People’s Choice award, the first time it has not achieved the award in 9 years. 

“TSB performed the best in areas that The Co-operative Bank did not – namely when it came to call center performance and fees."

The best of the rest

“ANZ took third place with a satisfaction score of 63%, ranking well for customer-facing features like digital banking services,” says Duffy.

“Kiwibank ranked fourth place with a score of 61%, performing strongly for how it deals with problems and its value for money.

“BNZ and ASB both scored 60%, receiving mixed results across our measures of satisfaction.

“Westpac was the worst-performing bank for the third year running, with just 54% of its customers satisfied by their experience with the bank.”

Can you bank on your bank?

“This big gap in satisfaction scores between first place and the rest of the pack reflects what the Commerce Commission’s banking draft market study found – limited competition between the big players in Aotearoa’s banking sector results in the majority of banking customers receiving lower levels of service,” says Duffy.

“We think the way your bank treats you should be an important factor in choosing who looks after your money.

“We’re really concerned when we see an Australian-owned bank like Westpac, which holds almost 20% of the market in New Zealand, with the lowest levels of customer satisfaction. Something isn’t working properly in this market if customers aren’t switching to banks with better service.

“If you don’t rate your current bank’s service – whether it’s the digital experience, the advice you receive or how quickly they respond to your emails – find a provider that better suits your needs and switch.

“Sticking with a bank that provides a sub-standard service is effectively a vote for sub-standard service. Despite many people thinking that switching is a big hassle, those who switch say it was a whole lot easier than they thought."

Every year, Consumer NZ asks New Zealanders about their experience with their bank to find out who has the most satisfied customers. 

Our data is from a nationally representative survey of 1,996 New Zealanders, aged 18 years and older, carried out online in January and February 2024. Satisfaction ratings show the proportion of respondents who scored their provider 8, 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied).

Ratings are shown for 13 key measures:

• Overall satisfaction
• Interest on savings
• Fees
• Mortgage interest rates
• Personal loan interest rates
• Call centre service
• Acting as a responsible lender
• Timely responses to inquiries
• Dealing fairly with problems and complaints
• Advice on products and services
• Value for money provided
• Security and privacy
• Digital banking features