Australians Give The Big Four Banks a Vote of No Confidence
Brisbane, QLD (PRWEB) July 7, 2008 -- Statistics produced by a recently completed survey indicate that a vast majority of Australian credit card holders do not feel that the big four Australian banks (ANZ, Commonwealth, NAB and Westpac) are providing the best credit card offers (http://www.click4credit.com.au). The results come from a survey of 500 Australian consumers on behalf of www.click4credit.com.au a leading credit card comparison website.
When presented with the statement 'the big four Australian banks provide the best credit card offers', and asked to indicate their agreement with it, a staggering 69.2% stated firmly that they did not agree with it. The remaining people declined to indicate agreement or disagreement with the statement. Leading spokesman for Australian credit card comparison website click4credit.com.au was quick to tell us that he was not surprised in the slightest by the results. He stated that "Our survey revealed that the most important credit card features are low interest rates on purchases and the most competitive low interest credit cards (http://www.click4credit.com.au) on the market come from banks such as St George, BankWest, HSBC and Citibank. Clearly there is a demand for competitive products, as many of these banks are enjoying double-digit growth in credit card customers."
Compared to other nations around the globe, such as the UK and USA, Australians will pay far greater average annual fees and higher interest rates. A new style of product is being offered by players outside of the big four, which bring lower interest rates and vastly reduced service fees. These new and consumer focused credit card products are offering significantly greater value for money.
Richard Greenwood calls the big four banks into question, and prompts them to follow the lead set by fresh new competitors such as St George Bank, by saying that "Banks need to offer a range of credit cards to suit all types of consumers, such as low-interest credit cards for those that can't pay the bill in full each month, cards with excellent reward programs for high spenders and no annual fee credit cards for occasional users." This brave attempt at prompting a reaction from the larger lending establishments can only be a good thing for the Australian credit card industry. It is felt that as competition in credit products heats up, that the likes of Westpac and NAB will have no choice but to follow suit, or lose a significant portion of their market share.
Indeed, there is a quantity of good news for consumers, as these larger banks begin to come under pressure and are beginning to introduce more consumer focused and dynamic products of their own. With the general public of Australia coming up to speed very quickly and using technology such as the internet to compare and select credit card products before they make an application, the days of the big banks extorting high annual fees, in a market with little competition, is surely over. Richard Greenwood was keen to add that "competition is the likely to heat up further in the coming year, and consumers will be the big winners".
Is the writing on the wall for the big four? Or will they follow the example of the underdogs and bring their current product base into line with the flexible and fresh products being introduced by a myriad of providers, losing market share and revenue in a very short space of time?
About the company:
Click4credit.com.au is a leading credit card comparison website, specialising specifically in the Australian credit card market. The company is a subsidiary of Click 4 Group Pty Ltd, an operator of several websites aimed at providing the Australian public with comparisons of a wide range of financial products including high interest savings (http://www.high-interest-saving-account.com.au) and loans. The company is based in Brisbane, Queensland.
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