Mobile banking use up, and we’re mostly satisfied

In the wake of the Royal Commission on banking, it can be hard to imagine that we’re satisfied with our banks, and yet in at least one area, it’s apparently all smiles, or mostly, anyway.

It’s 2019, and there’s a good chance you’d prefer to do your banking from the comfort of your own phone or tablet, rather than head out, line up at a branch, and wait for a teller to help you with any financial transfers you might have to do. That’s the general consensus of where we are, and in our fast-paced technologically focused world, it will probably come as little surprise.

But just how much do we prefer mobile banking to the real physical in-your-face kind? The answer might come as a surprise, and it could just shift your idea of who to leave your savings account or credit cards with.

In fact, according to a recent Roy Morgan report, Australians using mobile banking are actually quite satisfied with handling their own affairs over mobile banking, with mobile-based banking drawing the highest customer satisfaction rate (89.3 percent) for the month of January, beating internet banking (87.7), in-person branch banking (85.2), advisor banking (81.2), and phone banking (77.2).

According to the data, the experience provided by the Commonwealth Bank leads the charge for January, garnering the highest satisfaction rate at 91.7 per cent for mobile banking, while internet sits at 88.8 per cent. Just behind on each was NAB and Westpac on mobile banking at 88.8 and 88.2 per cent, while internet banking had them switch places at 88.7 for Westpac and 87.7 for NAB. ANZ, on the other hand, sat behind on the big four banking experiences, though wasn’t far away at 87.3 per cent customer satisfaction for mobile banking and 85.3 per cent for internet banking.

“Despite a decline in satisfaction with banks over the last year, their customers still have higher satisfaction levels than they have averaged over the last two decades, highlighting the importance of understanding long term trends. The extensive negative publicity over the last year given to the big four in particular as a result of the Finance Royal Commission appears to have had a negative impact on their satisfaction levels but this appears to be abating,” said Roy Morgan Industry Communications Director Norman Morris.

“On the positive side, the high satisfaction levels for mobile and internet banking, combined with their rapid growth, are likely contributing factors to maintaining high overall satisfaction levels over recent times,” he said.

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