The results from The Adviser's 2015 Third-Party Banking Report – Non-Major Lenders are in, with interesting movements emerging among the non-majors profiled and a somewhat surprising trend emerging when pitting the lenders against the performance of the big four.
A record 1,017 respondents were surveyed about their experiences dealing with 10 non-major banks, across their product, support, technology and commission offerings.
Once again ING Direct took out the coveted title of highest rated non-major bank, a feat it has achieved now for four consecutive years. ING dominated in 14 of the 23 categories surveyed.
Macquarie Bank was also unchanged at number two on the rankings table, while St.George Group shot up three places to take out third place, on the back of sharp improvements in a number of categories, most notably its broker support.
The Adviser editor James Mitchell said a huge number of brokers participated in the report, which goes to show how engaged the third-party channel is with the quality and performance of its non-major bank partners.
“Over 1,000 brokers responded to this year’s survey,” Mr Mitchell said. “That level of participation shows the significance of the non-major lenders in the broker channel.
“It is pleasing to see some lenders moving up the ranks this year. Banks are listening to the needs of brokers and our report is a perfect reflection of how brokers view the commitment of the non-majors to the third-party channel.”
Rounding out the top five were Suncorp Bank, which was consistent with 2014's score and ranking, and Bankwest, which slipped from third to fifth.
Next was AMP Bank, which rose from seventh to sixth; Citibank, which fell outside the top five to seventh this year; Adelaide Bank and ME Bank traded places at eighth and ninth respectively; and Heritage Bank once again rounded out the list at number 10.
However just three of the non-major banks (St.George Group, AMP Bank and Adelaide Bank) improved on their scores from 2014; the remainder (except for Suncorp Bank) saw their overall satisfaction rates fall.
This is in stark contrast to the results of Third-Party Banking Report – Major Lenders, unveiled in April this year, which showed all four banks improving on their previous year’s performance.
Click here for the full report.
[Related: Australia's top major lender revealed]