The new MLC website is looking fresh - have a look and a browse. Calculators above are nice.Also have a look at the new St George website, as well as AMPs new site. All happening!
Showing posts with label st george. Show all posts
Showing posts with label st george. Show all posts
Monday, May 26, 2008
New MLC, St Geoge, AMP websites go live
The new MLC website is looking fresh - have a look and a browse. Calculators above are nice.Also have a look at the new St George website, as well as AMPs new site. All happening!
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Choice magazine talks about their views on recent merger activity
From The Age:
"It's clear that competition in the banking sector is not working as well as it should. In fact, competition is getting worse, not better.
Indeed, what's not clear is how a merger between one of the Big Four and the fifth biggest bank in Australia (with a particularly strong position in NSW and South Australia) will increase competition. Even if the cost of funds decreases as promised, there is no guarantee that any benefit will be passed on to customers. This is precisely why competition needs to have priority over other considerations."
...
"How many bank customers who were thrown into a rage because of poor service or high fees have had to back down on their threats to leave the miscreant bank because it is just all too hard? While 25% to 40% of bank customers express dissatisfaction with their current institution, only 3% actually switch accounts.
As things stand, customers are not able to drive competition by easily choosing a better deal, and that means incentives to offer better products are undermined. A competitive market will encourage banks to innovate — to offer attractive differences in price or service to draw new customers — but this can't work where it's too difficult for consumers to switch."
Article continues...
"It's clear that competition in the banking sector is not working as well as it should. In fact, competition is getting worse, not better.
Indeed, what's not clear is how a merger between one of the Big Four and the fifth biggest bank in Australia (with a particularly strong position in NSW and South Australia) will increase competition. Even if the cost of funds decreases as promised, there is no guarantee that any benefit will be passed on to customers. This is precisely why competition needs to have priority over other considerations."
...
"How many bank customers who were thrown into a rage because of poor service or high fees have had to back down on their threats to leave the miscreant bank because it is just all too hard? While 25% to 40% of bank customers express dissatisfaction with their current institution, only 3% actually switch accounts.
As things stand, customers are not able to drive competition by easily choosing a better deal, and that means incentives to offer better products are undermined. A competitive market will encourage banks to innovate — to offer attractive differences in price or service to draw new customers — but this can't work where it's too difficult for consumers to switch."
Article continues...
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Westpac & St George in merger talk
The Age this morning reveals Westpacs approach to St George for a merger, creating the largest bank in the country. The obvious link between the 2 is Gail Kelly, former StG CEO and current Westpac CEO, who revealed the plans with the following comments - ''It would create Australia's leading financial institution with regard to meeting customer needs, distribution, strong brands, scale, financial strength and the best products,'' Mrs Kelly said. ''For customers, it would make it more convenient to access customer touchpoints, including the largest distribution network with over 1,200 branches and in-stores as well as more than 2,700 ATMs. It would also provide greater diversity and choice of products from both organisations.'' Interesting times ahead, given the volatility of the financial sector in recent times - it shows the apparent strength in these 2 businesses to be talking merger - I guess Ms Kelly knows them better than most.
May 13 update - it seems its all go, with the 2 banks to make a joint announcement. Interesting analysis by Robert Gottliebson in BusinessSpectator on the new customer experience focus Gail Kelly is pushing:
"To bring out the change Kelly plans to implement at Westpac I have changed the order of some of her radical Westpac strategic aims:
Even her more conventional aims for Westpac are couched in customer terms. Remember that the whole focus of the Kelly strategy at St George bank was to build a better relationship with its customers than the big four banks and she attacked them with incredible vigour. Those aims show that Kelly has not changed her spots despite being in a different cage."
This renewed focus on the customer (when and why did it ever go away?) is great for our industry especially in the context of this merger - this merger must benefit customers to align with the strategic planning Kelly has brought on board.
May 13 update - it seems its all go, with the 2 banks to make a joint announcement. Interesting analysis by Robert Gottliebson in BusinessSpectator on the new customer experience focus Gail Kelly is pushing:
"To bring out the change Kelly plans to implement at Westpac I have changed the order of some of her radical Westpac strategic aims:
- "Significantly improve the (Westpac) customer experience; Drive a strong customer culture; develop and implement compelling customer segment strategies, integrating banking and wealth;
- "Focus on being easier to deal with; transform service delivery, redesigning processes end to end"
Even her more conventional aims for Westpac are couched in customer terms. Remember that the whole focus of the Kelly strategy at St George bank was to build a better relationship with its customers than the big four banks and she attacked them with incredible vigour. Those aims show that Kelly has not changed her spots despite being in a different cage."
This renewed focus on the customer (when and why did it ever go away?) is great for our industry especially in the context of this merger - this merger must benefit customers to align with the strategic planning Kelly has brought on board.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Net Promoter Scores 2006 - guess the one bank in the black
This from MBS, the Net Promoter Scores for Australia 2006 across a variety of industries - auto, banks, health insurance, tourism, mobiles, computers, etc. Completed by Mark Ritson, a friend of TheBankChannel. Excellent and revealing reading! Read his media release here.
Bendigo, like their customer satisfaction, dominates with the only positive net promoter score at +7 in the banking industry. HSBC was next, which was interesting, at -8. ANZ -24, St G -30, Westpac -39, NAB -42, CommBank -54 .... heck.
Bendigo, like their customer satisfaction, dominates with the only positive net promoter score at +7 in the banking industry. HSBC was next, which was interesting, at -8. ANZ -24, St G -30, Westpac -39, NAB -42, CommBank -54 .... heck.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
NZ Banks Continue To Make Gains In Satisfaction, Bendigo wins in Aus again
Click on the image to see a bigger version.New Zealand Bank Performance
Roy Morgan reports NZ banks are continuing to improve as a group, with the leader minor bank TSB with a staggering 93.2% of customers satisfied with their service.
Roy Morgan New Zealand found that in the 12 months to July 2007, satisfaction reported by customers of the five major banks improved 3.8 percentage points to 75.6%.
The biggest improver was Westpac, with those who have any relationship with Westpac increasing their satisfaction level by 6.1 percentage points to 71.1%. While this represents a steady and significant improvement over the past 12 months, Westpac still trails its competitors.
Another interesting point is the entrance of government/post office owned Kiwi Bank that started and remained at number 2, but looks to be coming back to the advancing pack.
Australian Bank Performance
Meanwhile Bendigo has again won the latest customer satisfaction round here in Oz. The Roy Morgan Research Consumer Banking Customer Satisfaction Report (August 2007) ranked Bendigo Bank as the highest of any Australian bank in terms of customer satisfaction. Bendigo Bank received a 90.6 percent customer satisfaction rating.
ANZ received a 75.6 percent rating; Commonwealth Bank a 68.1 percent rating; NAB a 68.9 percent rating and Westpac a 72 percent rating. St George and Suncorp both received a 79.3 percent rating. Adelaide Bank received a rating of 82.6 percent higher than Bank of Queensland and BankWest which received ratings of 82.1 percent and 72.4 percent respectively.
Monday, October 1, 2007
St George the customers favourite business bank
St George has topped an East & Partners survey across business banking customers. Business customers have rated their banks, on average, lower in August 2007 than in any previous month in East & Partner's monthly report, the Business Banking Sentiment Index.
The Business Banking Sentiment Score fell from 41.7 in July 2007 to 41.4 in August 2007. Despite two consecutive increases in sentiment over the past few months, the long term downward spiral in sentiment has continued.
The Sentiment Score is an aggregated rating metric comprising four different measures of customer sentiment – Empathy, Satisfaction Loyalty and Advocacy. NAB came a respectable 3rd and first amongst the big four at 49.
The Business Banking Sentiment Score fell from 41.7 in July 2007 to 41.4 in August 2007. Despite two consecutive increases in sentiment over the past few months, the long term downward spiral in sentiment has continued.
The Sentiment Score is an aggregated rating metric comprising four different measures of customer sentiment – Empathy, Satisfaction Loyalty and Advocacy. NAB came a respectable 3rd and first amongst the big four at 49.
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