Fees, Not Rates, Drive Online Savings In Australia
Australians are more concerned about bank fees than the interest rate when choosing an online savings account. This finding was revealed in the Savings Account Online Consumer Monitor, an online survey of around 4000 Australian banking customers undertaken in the First Half of 2005 by Global Reviews.
(PRWEB) September 1, 2005 -- Australians are more concerned about bank fees than the interest rate when choosing a savings account, according to new research from Global Reviews. This finding was revealed in the Savings Account Online Consumer Monitor, an online survey of around 4000 Australian banking customers undertaken in the First Half of 2005.
When opening a savings account, the absence of banks fees was clearly more important than the interest rate on offer. In particular, consumers were prepared to tolerate a slightly lower rate in exchange for fee-free banking.
According to Dr. Adir Shiffman, Director of Global Reviews, this key finding is extremely significant. Banks spend a great deal of money and energy promoting their top-line interest rate", explains Shiffman. But the public appears quite cynical, and is more worried about what the bank will take rather than what theyre offering to give".
To highlight this point, some 91% of those surveyed felt confident they could recall their monthly savings account bank fee, compared to 78% who felt they knew their interest rate.
Product awareness was also a focus of the research. When asked to nominate which banks they were sure" offered an online savings account some 50% of respondents selected ING Direct. Indeed, overall ING Direct continues its reign as the perceived market leader. At the other end, both Citibank and HSBC achieved only 9% awareness. A surprising 21% of respondents were unaware of the Online Savings Account product category.
Predictably, the internet continues to be the favoured channel for conducting research into online savings accounts. For existing internet users this was true across all age groups. Furthermore, many respondents indicated that they also preferred to manage their account online.
Banks were relatively quick to realise the appeal of the internet as a self-service channel", explains Dr. Shiffman, and many online savings accounts provide no offline functionality at all". Consumers seem prepared to conduct their banking exclusively online, and this had led to the emergence of low/no-fee, high yield savings accounts as one of the key banking battlegrounds.
The major problem with the web, according to the survey results, concerned e-mail support. Many of those who had recently contacted their bank felt that the level of email support was unsatisfactory. This has led many consumers to return to the telephone as their contact channel of choice.
Finally, the most common goal of online savers was unsurprisingly aspirational; a holiday. The second-largest group were saving for nothing in particular," a pleasing finding that contrasts starkly with Australias huge and rising personal debt levels.
ABOUT GLOBAL REVIEWS
Global Reviews is a leader in objectively benchmarking customer experience. The companys unique benchmarks objectively rate and rank what its really like to be a customer using a companys website, email support, telephone call centre, and branches. Clients in over a dozen different industries rely on Global Reviews to deliver prioritised recommendations for improvement, including: Qantas, ANZ, Medibank, Telstra, and Origin Energy.
Global Reviews was founded by Adir Shiffman, a medical doctor, and Adam Goodvach, a lawyer. The company is privately held, with offices in Melbourne, Australia and Auckland, New Zealand. To learn more about Global Reviews visit www.globalreviews.com.au or call +61 3 9645 9986.
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