Australian consumers trust banks which protect corporate assets and show respect for their customers in tightening economy – Unisys Trusted Enterprise

Sydney, 30, June 2008: A new survey has found that the two most important factors for Australian consumers to trust retail banks in a tightening economic environment are the banks’ ability to protect corporate assets and show respect for their customers, according to the Unisys Trusted Enterprise research undertaken by the US-based Ponemon Institute.

“This national survey is a comprehensive study into what erodes or builds the trust of a consumer in his or her bank,” said Robert Dewar, managing partner, Financial Services, Unisys Australia and New Zealand.  “From the survey it is clear that Australians hold fundamental expectations of their banks around not only being dependable but also the way that they treat their customers and if those expectations are not met, then the customers trust and perhaps patronage could disappear.

“Today’s climate of increasing interest rates, rising petrol prices and growing household debt has created an environment where Australian’s are more concerned about their ability to meet financial obligations and really want to trust that their bank will protect their assets,” said Mr Dewar.

Conversely, the research identifies that Australians lose trust in their banking providers if their IT doesn’t work consistently, if they are seen to have unethical business practices or if they disrespect their customers.

Curiously, whilst undependable IT was listed as the number one reason for erosion of trust, having dependable IT was only the tenth most important factor in building trust.

The factors that are most likely to erode customers’ trust included IT systems, such as Internet banking facilities and ATMs, that are undependable.  Unethical business practices and disrespect for customers, reckless fiscal management and feeling unsafe and insecure were also high on the list of the reasons why customers’ trust would be lost.

Respect for customers and the provision of quality products and customer satisfaction were also amongst the top trust building factors.

“While customer satisfaction is an important factor, it is not as important overall in impacting trust as making customers feel they are respected.  Banks must go above and beyond offering the basics of good service and work to build authenticity, integrity and respect into their customer relationships if they want customers who trust them and are more loyal,” said Mr Dewar.

2174 Australians were surveyed in the study which sought to understand what factors build a customers trust and what factors erode that trust in retail banks.

Contacts

Claire Hosegood, Unisys, 0411 253 663
claire.hosegood@au.unisys.com