NAB improved its CX quality the most with a 6-point increase over last year, lifting it from third to first place in Forrester’s ranking.

Forrester’s CX Index benchmarks the CX quality of brands and is based on a survey of more than 5,000 Australian adult customers, including more than 1,400 customers of five banks - ANZ, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, NAB, Suncorp, and Westpac.

Forrester - a global research and advisory firm - says that for the first time since the inception of the study in 2015, NAB and Suncorp moved into the “good” category of CX quality. All five banks placed in the “OK” category in 2020.

As well as improving its CX quality the most with a 6-point increase over last year, NAB also had the highest percentage of customers reporting excellent experiences (47%) and the best performance across all three dimensions of CX quality: effectiveness, ease, and emotion.

Forrester says Suncorp also made good progress, having improved its CX for the third year in a row.

“As a result of the pandemic, most banks are racing to elevate the digital experience of their websites and mobile apps but often neglect the importance of human interactions,” said Riccardo Pasto, principal analyst at Forrester.

“At a time of strict social distancing and lockdown orders that make in-person interaction not feasible, video chat and other digitally enabled human interactions allow banks to get closer to customers and connect with them on a deeper emotional level.

“Our research shows that CX leaders grow revenue faster than CX laggards, drive higher brand preference, and retain more customers, who are more inclined to forgive stumbles made by brands with good CX. Brands with the best customer experiences during the pandemic shutdown will benefit the most from pent-up demand on the other side.”

According to Forrester’s CX Index methodology, how an experience makes customers feel has a bigger influence on their loyalty to a brand than effectiveness or ease.

Among customers of Australian banks who felt valued, 62% say they plan to stay with the bank, 77% plan to spend more with it, and 84% will advocate for the bank.

In contrast, of customers who feel frustrated, only 21% plan to stay with the bank and to spend more with it, and a mere 13% will advocate for the bank.

Forrester says the report also reveals that good communication with customers has the greatest impact on a bank’s CX Index score - communicating in plain language is one of the top three drivers of CX quality; just 58% of customers say that banks are successful at this.

Having transparent interest rates and fees is one of the top four drivers for retaining customers, but just over one-third of banking customers report that banks do a good job with prices and fees (36%), indicating room for improvement.