(2nd August 2011 – Australia) There has been a significant drop in demand for business banking products from customers over the last 4 months across all commercial banks including the Big Four domestic providers, international and regional banks, East & Partners’ latest Advocacy Monitor has revealed.A continuing drop in the demand for business banking products from customers
has been highlighted in East & Partners latest measure of business customer
advocacy and sentiment.
From March this year to July, every bank has experienced a reduction in demand
for business banking products.
Of the Big Four, Westpac and the National Australia Bank have experienced the
biggest drops with a decline of 3.6 and 2.6 percent respectively.
All the regional banks have also seen a downturn in demand, with East &
Partners’ research showing Citi Bank and Suncorp being the most affected with a
drop of 3.6 and 3.8 percent respectively.
This declining trend in demand for business banking products has been reported
across all business segments, from Micro businesses to the Mid Corporate sector.
SME businesses are reporting the biggest drop in demand over this period, with a
decline of 4 percent. The market at large has displayed a total percentage
decrease in the demand for business banking products of 3.1 percent.
East & Partners sees this drop in appetite reflecting some key dynamics
currently impacting business, including a lack of proactive and often confusing
engagement from providers being reported by business customers, a general
fragility in business sentiment, lack of clarity around near term economic
conditions and, in particular, outside the resources sector, businesses not
investing for business growth.
About East & Partners’ Advocacy Monitor
A bi-monthly Index of business customer advocacy and sentiment toward their
banks, based on interviews conducted Australia-wide with a structured sample of
over 4,600 middle market and SME customers companies turning over A$1 to 100
million per annum.
The Index provides a monitor of several key drivers of customer engagement
behaviour with their banks including advocacy, detraction, empathy,
satisfaction, loyalty, channel engagement, advertising recognition, product
demand, product advocacy and mind share.
Note: Merchant Segments
Mid Corporate – A$20-100 million
SME – A$5-20 million
Micro – A$1-5 million
For more information or to interview our Principal Analyst Paul Dowling, please
contact:
Sian Dowling
Marcomms & Client Services
East & Partners
t: +61-2-9004 7848
m: + 61-420 583 553
e: sian.d@eastandpartners.com