Non-bank lenders become less popular

by Richard Kilner

Story link: Non-bank lenders become less popular

Non-bank lenders have passed on their increased funding costs to the consumer, creating lower customer satisfaction ratings in September.

Research conducted by Nielsen has uncovered the fact that approval for non-bank lenders, with the exception of Wizard, have suffered heavily in the wake of the credit crunch.

RAMS has seen a fall of 5.5 points in the quarter, while Aussie Home Loans have fallen even further, by 6.3 points.

Simone Bryant, Nielsen’s client service director, described the RAMS’ fall as relatively modest, seen in the light of its well-known funding issues.

Given the higher costs being passed onto customers, the fall could continue to rise, encouraging disgruntled clients to seek lending from banks instead.

Nielsen found that ANZ, the leader of the Big Four, had seen a sharp decline in satisfaction, whereas Nielsen’s rival Roy Morgan Research believe that ANZ have in fact steadied the ship.

Mike Smith, ANZ’s chief executive, addressed the Trans-Tasman Business Circle in Sydney yesterday, saying how he intended to improve the firm by making it truly ‘customer-centric’. According to Nielsen’s survey, ANZ has fallen heavily, down 4.1 points to 69.8 %.

Nielsen’s research shows that, by contrast, Australia’s fifth biggest bank, St George, saw a modest fall of just 0.5 points, becoming the top of the league with 72.6%.

Roy Morgan, however, believe that ANZ have actually extended their lead at the table’s top over closest rival Westpac.

Satisfaction ratings are widely seen as an indicator as to future changes in market-share.

All the largest Australian banks have invested in recruiting more frontline staff and improving their networks in an effort to optimise their customer service.

Where Roy Morgan and Nielsen agree on is that CBA, which is the only big bank to see a rise in customer satisfaction for the second quarter running.