Forrester: Europese banken niet gezien als ‘customer advocates’

Slechts 29 procent van de West Europeanen denkt de bank waar hij klant is het beste met hem of haar voor heeft. In Nederland is dit ‘geloof’ gezakt van 35 procent in 2007 naar 27 procent in 2008. Forrester deed onderzoek onder 21.000 consumenten naar 46 grote Europese banken.

Duitse banken voeren de lijst aan, de banken in de UK hebben de laagste customer advocacy scores van alle Europese banken. Over de Nederlandse markt schrijft Forrester: ‘[…] several scandals and changes in the Dutch market have caused the overall customer advocacy score to drop sharply from 35% to 27% this year. For example, in September 2007, Dutch consumer organization Consumentenbond revealed that ING had systematically lowered the interest rates of some of its savings products in a market where the average interest rate is rising.’

Lees hier de samenvatting van het rapport: ‘Customer Advocacy 2008: How Consumers Rate European Banks’.

Verder over de Nederlandse markt: ‘Trust in financial firms has also been reduced by the Woekerpolisaffaire, which disclosed that financial firms have sold mortgages with hidden costs to many Dutch consumers. Ownership changes like the takeover of ABN AMRO by Fortis (and the media’s focus on shareholder value) have probably also increased consumer uncertainty and distrust. Even so, the Dutch banks scores are still better than they were in 2005 or 2006.’

‘The poor perception of so many big European banks creates a big opportunity for strategists at other firms to differentiate by emphasizing customer advocacy,’ zegt Vanessa Niemeyer, senior analyst bij Forrester. ‘The top-rated banks keep things simple, operate transparently, build trust, and treat their customers benevolently.’