Choosing a bank has always been as much about convenience as getting a good deal. For decades, it’s simply been easier to throw our lot in with a big bank than to research the challengers and shift our accounts. But is it really so inconvenient to have two or three accounts across two or three banks? And what’s the real cost of our convenience?
Over at Mozo, we’ve launched the People’s Choice Awards, tallying over 23,000 customer votes to determine the best products, the most trusted banks, and the trends of our banking habits. It’s an Australian first for banking comparison – and the election results were a landslide.
The people’s vote delivered a clear victory to the challenger brands. ING Direct was voted Australia’s best bank, and RaboDirect our most trusted. Interestingly, the top-rated products were split across different providers, showing that Australians are increasingly looking for competitive deals instead of sticking with the one institution.
Bendigo Bank had the best credit card, while UBank took out the savings account category. Meanwhile, the big four banks were trounced for high fees, bad interest rates, as well as poor customer service. And the US finance giants fared even worse, with GE Money and Citibank slammed for uncompetitive interest rates.
So the question is, how much is your small business paying for the convenience of your current provider? How much could you gain – annually – from a broader strategy to banking?
You can check out all the category winners – including best credit union, best term deposit and more – at Mozo to see what the people think.
