Australian Banks Q2 2024 Call Centre Rankings

Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards

The Australian Banks are assessed using the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards that have been developed and refined over 30 years to assess the moments that matter to customers.

When businesses consistently achieve high ratings in these core competencies, there is a direct correlation to improved business metrics however you measure them, such as improved Sales Conversions, NPS, Customer Effort Score, efficiency, reduced AHT, etc.

The standards apply to all contact centres and are adapted to customer service or sales calls.

• Agent Excellence reflects the skill and effectiveness of agents in their interactions with customers. It is assessed across five core competencies—Engage, Discover, Educate, Close, and Energy—and 18 call-handling behaviours. These metrics are designed to directly correlate with improved customer satisfaction and better business outcomes.
• Accessibility measures how easy it was to connect to a live customer serive agent assessed using over 40 metrics, from average wait times, hold times, number of IVR options (press 1 for this, 2 for that), the time forced to listen to recording messages and so on.
• The Overall CX rankings are a culmination the Agent Excellence and Accessibility scores, using weightings applied to key metrics that have the biggest influence on the overall customer experience.

As Australia’s leading resource for contact centres, we provide insights, resources, and training to help Australian Banks improve the customer experience they provide, which in turn delivers improved efficiencies and cost savings for their stakeholders.

Accessibility rankings across the Australian banking sector have continued to be rated as ‘Poor’, coming in last of all industry sectors for the previous three quarters since we commenced the surveys in August 2023.

• For Q2 2024, Westpac was ranked the lowest and therefore the most difficult bank to connect to a live customer service agent with a ranking score of 16.5%, only marginally ahead of ANZ with 17.4%. These were the 2nd and 3rd lowest results of all contact centres nationally, just ahead of RACV insurance with the lowest ranked of all contact centres at 0.9%.
• Across the banking sector, 44.4% of new business opportunity calls were not answered within a 10-minute threshold, which is a staggering result considering the potential for new revenue for the banks. ING failed to answer 66% of our calls across Q2 2024, with NAB the best, not answering 11.1% of calls.
• Banks have continued their unhealthy obsession with IVRs (press one for this, two for that), ranging from an average of 2.4 layers (Bendigo Bank) to 6.0 layers (ANZ) which was the highest of all contact centres nationally.
• In addition to forcing customers to make numerous menu selections, customers were also forced to listen to recorded messaging ranging from 00:30 minutes (Bendigo Bank) to 01:28 minutes (ANZ).
• For the first time since we commenced our rankings in August 2023, there was a decline in the use of speech analytics/voice recognition on menus, with 65% of banking contact centres use touch IVRs only, and 35% a combination of touch and voice/natural language.
• There has also been an increase in banks trying to divert customers away from waiting to speak to a live agent to other channels, with Westpac (55.4%) and ANZ (22.2%) the most prominent in trying to shift customers off the phone to either the app or website.
• Talk times averaged 04:04 minutes across all banks in Q2 2024, down from 05:38 in Q1 2024 (-27.8%), ranging from 02:13 minutes (Westpac) to 07:53 minutes (ANZ). Whilst reduced talk time can benefit both the customer and the bank, there does appear to be a correlation between lower talk times and poor customer service, perhaps reflecting banks trying to rush through the calls rather than ensure the customer is fully satisfied.

AVERAGE WAIT TIMES Q2 2024

• Average wait times across the banking sector increased from 03:40 minutes in Q1 2024 to 04:34 minutes, an increase of 00:54 minutes (24.5%).
• ING had the biggest increase in average wait times, from 05:28 minutes to 08:27 minutes, which was the longest of all banks in Q2 2024, and Bendigo Bank had the largest decrease, from 06:29 minutes to 04:31 minutes.
• NAB had the lowest average wait times in Q2 2024 with 01:55 minutes, followed by Westpac with 02:21 minutes.

The Agent Excellence across the Banking sector in Q2 2024 was rated ‘Below Standard’ for the third consecutive quarter with a score of 53.7%, down from 57.5% in Q1 2024.

• The Agent Excellence scores ranged from 40.4% (Westpac) to 83.5% (ANZ) who have led the past three consecutive quarters.
• Of the five Quality Competencies we assessed using the Australian Contact Centre Quality Standards, the ‘Engage’ competency was the lowest rated at just 28.9%, up slightly from Q1 2024 (25.0%).
• The ‘Engage’ competency scores ranged from 0% (ING) to 79.2% (ANZ), suggesting that banks often fail to build rapport with customers, take ownership, and provide a personalised experience.
• The ‘Educate’ competency was the highest Customer Service competency in Q2 2024, with a score of 63.0%. However, this was a decline from the previous quarter’s score of 75.5%. Educate scores ranged from 41.7% (Westpac) to 91.7% (ANZ).
• Using the customer’s name during the conversation, one of the four ‘Engage’ behaviours we assess was ranked at just 21.3% for the Banking sector. Bendigo Bank, CBA, and ING all scored 0% for Q2 2024 (the second consecutive quarter for CBA and ING with 0%).
• ‘Empathy’, one of the four ‘Energy’ behaviours we assess, increased across the banking sector from 79.6% in Q1 2024 to 84.3% in Q2 2024, with two banks (ANZ & ING) scoring 100%.
• The ‘Check’ behaviour is used to assess if the customer service agent consistently checks in with the customer for understanding, comfort and suitability whenever key details are provided.  It was ranked at 18.5% in Q2 2024, down from 31.5% in Q1 2024, with three banks (Bendigo, ING and Westpac) scoring 0% in Q2 2024, and Westpac has failed to register any score since we commenced reporting in August 2023.