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

Jon Duffy, CEO at Consumer, says The Co-operative Bank, which has a market share of just 0.5%, 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."