It seems that Westpac’s
(ASX:WBC) decision to raise its standard variable interest rate by more than expected at the end of last year, has upset a few customers.
The latest research by Roy Morgan shows that Westpac’s customer satisfaction declined by the most out of the four big banks in February.
The research shows that 71.5% of Westpac customers were satisfied with the bank at the end of that month – reflecting a 0.7% fall on the January result.
Between November and February satisfaction with the bank slipped 1.3%.
In December, Westpac raised its variable rate by more than any of the big banks and above the Reserve Bank of Australia’s increase of the official cash rate.
Westpac says that higher wholesale funding costs underpinned the out of step rate rise.
In 2009 Westpac’s net profit was just over $3.4 billion.
