Australian’s are considering switching banks in bigger numbers than ever, an exclusive poll shows.
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A Really Simple Money poll among 58,000 mainly young Australian families, says more than half (58.5 per cent) are considering a change by switching banks, and a stunning 90.7 per cent are now looking at smaller banks like Suncorp or Bendigo Bank.
Just under half – 46 per cent – maintain the anger from the big four banks over the Budget levy had driven them to reconsider their banking.
And 88 per cent stay firmly the banks should “pony up”, in the word of Treasurer Scott Morrison. Only 11 per cent felt they shouldn’t.
Three quarters of those polled said they would certainly switch if their financial records and account numbers were made portable.
The poll results come as the Australian Bankers’ Association appears to be splitting, with smaller banks like The Bendigo and You Bank backing paying the levy, while the big four and Macquarie are preparing a campaign to win public support to stop the levy.
The poll appears to predict such a campaign could well back fire.
Really Simple Money is a site which helps young 30+ Australians with everyday budgeting and finance tips. It also helps readers understand their money better.
It comes as new figures show ordinary Australians are going backwards in terms of their finances with wage growth falling behind the cost of living.
The annual growth rate of pay is at 1.9 per cent, recorded towards the end of 2016.
Private wage growth is at a record low of 1.8 per cent, while consumer prices have risen by 2.1 per cent over the past year. Housing affordability continues to be a major problem for young Australians.
Corporate public relations experts like Sue Cato have already warned that unpopular big banks and their bosses waging a campaign to stop the levy when customers are feeling economic pain could serve to underscore that our major financial institutions are out of touch.