
Smaller Banks Pack A Punch: Consumer's Best And Worst Banks In 2025
Press Release – Consumer NZ
The Co-operative Bank has taken out the top spot in Consumers latest banking satisfaction survey, earning a customer satisfaction score of 77%. At the other end of the scale, ANZ the countrys largest bank scored just 57%. The average satisfaction …
The Co-operative Bank has topped the rankings for customer satisfaction, while ANZ finished at the bottom, according to Consumer NZ's latest independent survey of New Zealand banking customers.
The Co-operative Bank has taken out the top spot in Consumer's latest banking satisfaction survey, earning a customer satisfaction score of 77%.
At the other end of the scale, ANZ – the country's largest bank – scored just 57%. The average satisfaction score across all banks was 64%.
'This is the fourth year in a row that The Co-operative Bank has won our People's Choice award,' says Jon Duffy, CEO of Consumer NZ.
'It's an impressive result, especially considering its market share – less than 1%.
'Bigger is not necessarily better. ANZ is New Zealand's most profitable bank, with the biggest market share, but when it comes to customer satisfaction, it finished bottom of our survey.
Consumer's annual independent survey measures customer satisfaction across 17 areas, including trust, value for money, digital banking, and customer service.
Don't bank on the big banks
Duffy notes this year's survey results come amid persistent concerns about the state of competition in New Zealand's banking sector and the ever-present threat of scams.
Our survey also found that more than 1 in 5 New Zealanders have fallen victim to a scam that has involved their bank account or a financial service.
While some progress has been made by banks to address scams – following pressure from central government and advocates for banks to increase efforts to protect customers – New Zealand still lags behind other countries when it comes to banking technology.
'The pace of innovation in the sector has been glacial. Technologies like comprehensive open banking and real-time payments that could save consumers money and keep us safe are still on the 'to do' list for banks,' says Duffy.
'Our research also shows fewer than 3% of New Zealanders switch banks each year – one of the lowest switching rates of any service sector we monitor.
'Low switching rates and low satisfaction scores – particularly among banks with the biggest customer bases – is never a good sign for consumers. Banks are yet to deliver improvements to their switching services, as recommended by the Commerce Commission's market study to improve competition in the sector.
'This is why we publish our annual satisfaction surveys. We strongly encourage people to do their homework and switch to a bank with higher customer satisfaction. It's easier than you might think and a powerful way to foster competition so that we can collectively raise the bar,' says Duffy.
Key findings from Consumer's 2025 banking satisfaction survey
The Co-operative Bank achieved the highest overall satisfaction score (77%) delivering consistent, above-average experiences across the board, particularly around digital banking, savings interest rates, and advice
ANZ scored the lowest customer satisfaction rating (57%), with particularly low scores for interest on savings, fees, responsible lending, advice and overall value for money
Consumer says the 20-point gap between the survey's top and bottom performers highlights just how much customer experience can differ between banks. The full survey results (paywalled) and methodology are available on Consumer's website: Best and worst banks in 2025.
Note:
Our data is from a nationally representative survey of 1,920 New Zealanders, aged 18 years and older, conducted online in February 2025
Ratings cover satisfaction across 17 key service areas. Satisfaction ratings show the proportion of respondents who scored their provider 8, 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied).
Market share is based on the latest figures from the Banking Ombudsman Scheme Dashboard.
Annual profit before tax figures are from each bank's latest financial disclosures.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Scoop
an hour ago
- Scoop
Concerns KiwiSaver Is Being Used As ‘Piggy Bank' To Solve Financial Woes
Article – RNZ A growing number of New Zealanders are making hardship withdrawals from their retirement savings. , Money Correspondent KiwiSaver is in danger of being considered a 'piggy bank' to solve all of New Zealanders' financial woes, one provider says, and too many people are tapping into their savings on hardship grounds. Founder of Kōura KiwiSaver scheme Rupert Carlyon was wary of calls for settings to be changed to allow people to use their money to buy farms. He said KiwiSaver was already being called on to solve the country's housing and infrastructure crises. Carlyon said changing the rules to allow more withdrawals sent the wrong message to people, who should be using KiwiSaver for their retirement. Instead, they were tapping into KiwiSaver in growing numbers. In April, 4220 people withdrew savings for financial hardship reasons, up from 3700 in April 2024. They withdrew a combined $37.6 million. 'It encourages more and more people to think about it like a piggybank. It's scary what's happening in that space,' he said. He said he saw people making repeated hardship withdrawals, depleting their balance. 'People come back multiple times with the same claims… it's hard to figure out what's real and what's not.' He said it would now not be possible to close the 'hardship loophole' because people expected it to be available and any change could dent confidence in the scheme. But he said it should be tightened up so there was a limit on the number of withdrawals that could be made within a certain timeframe. 'The other part is it's very resource intensive. We spend on average up to six hours per financial hardship claim… It's hard on staff because they often have to say no when they want to say yes.' A spokesperson for Public Trust, one of the KiwiSaver supervisors, said people were not required to repay hardship withdrawals if it was found they were not necessary. 'Their future self might not thank them for dipping into their retirement savings. We see situations of real and urgent need… there are strict rules and checks in place to help ensure withdrawals are only approved for genuine financial hardship, and applicants need to sign a legal declaration confirming their situation. 'If someone doesn't use funds as intended, it could affect their ability to make another hardship withdrawal in the future.'


Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Joint Statement On Use Of Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) In Retail Settings
Press Release – Joint Media Statement We are firmly of the opinion that FRT, when used fairly and accurately, can be a valuable intervention to help keep customers and employees safe. The undersigned major New Zealand retailers strongly support the use of fair and accurate technology to protect our workers and customers. We support the option for retailers to use Facial Recognition Technology (FRT) to reduce harm and proactively combat retail crime. Our teams face high rates of verbal and physical abuse from repeat offenders who pose a risk to our employees, customers and other visitors to our stores. They are often responsible for significant violence, stock loss or damage. We are firmly of the opinion that FRT, when used fairly and accurately, can be a valuable intervention to help keep customers and employees safe. It is a powerful and effective tool alongside other crime prevention resources such as security guards, fog cannons, staff training, body cameras, panic alarms, CCTV and other technology solutions. We acknowledge Foodstuffs North Island for their leadership in trialling this new technology, and also the oversight provided by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner in assessing FRT's suitability for use in New Zealand. The trial clearly showed that the technology made a measurable impact in reducing crime, and improving safety in stores. A survey of 1000 New Zealanders found 89% support the use of FRT if it reduces harm by 10%. Keeping our people safe at work and keeping our customers safe is of paramount importance. A significant proportion of retail crime is committed by repeat offenders. It is these recidivist offenders that we are able to target with FRT. FRT offers the opportunity for us to quickly identify individuals of interest as they enter the store. Staff and/or security personnel are then able to respond quickly and decide how to manage each situation. Intervention is not required for every situation but FRT helps our teams to prevent or de-escalate incidents and offences. We recognise that technology must be used in a fair and accurate way. Guardrails are needed to support customers' privacy, and to guard against potential bias and discrimination. We collectively make a commitment to work with Retail NZ to develop best practice to ensure FRT is used only to keep our people safe, and in line with our obligations under the Privacy Act. The use of FRT in the right settings with the right controls will provide positive benefits and outcomes for customers, retailers and workers, while not impeding on the privacy of New Zealanders. The vast majority of customers will be able to go about their business as usual and will in fact be safer in those stores where FRT is used.


Scoop
3 hours ago
- Scoop
Concerns KiwiSaver Is Being Used As 'Piggy Bank' To Solve Financial Woes
KiwiSaver is in danger of being considered a "piggy bank" to solve all of New Zealanders' financial woes, one provider says, and too many people are tapping into their savings on hardship grounds. Founder of Kōura KiwiSaver scheme Rupert Carlyon was wary of calls for settings to be changed to allow people to use their money to buy farms. He said KiwiSaver was already being called on to solve the country's housing and infrastructure crises. Carlyon said changing the rules to allow more withdrawals sent the wrong message to people, who should be using KiwiSaver for their retirement. Instead, they were tapping into KiwiSaver in growing numbers. In April, 4220 people withdrew savings for financial hardship reasons, up from 3700 in April 2024. They withdrew a combined $37.6 million. "It encourages more and more people to think about it like a piggybank. It's scary what's happening in that space," he said. He said he saw people making repeated hardship withdrawals, depleting their balance. "People come back multiple times with the same claims… it's hard to figure out what's real and what's not." He said it would now not be possible to close the "hardship loophole" because people expected it to be available and any change could dent confidence in the scheme. But he said it should be tightened up so there was a limit on the number of withdrawals that could be made within a certain timeframe. "The other part is it's very resource intensive. We spend on average up to six hours per financial hardship claim... It's hard on staff because they often have to say no when they want to say yes." A spokesperson for Public Trust, one of the KiwiSaver supervisors, said people were not required to repay hardship withdrawals if it was found they were not necessary. "Their future self might not thank them for dipping into their retirement savings. We see situations of real and urgent need… there are strict rules and checks in place to help ensure withdrawals are only approved for genuine financial hardship, and applicants need to sign a legal declaration confirming their situation. "If someone doesn't use funds as intended, it could affect their ability to make another hardship withdrawal in the future."