What is loyalty to your bank costing you?
With half of Aussies devoted to just one bank, their loyalty is costing them dearly.
Concerning new figures from finder.com.au show 47% of Australians are staying with one bank for their financial needs, potentially paying the price for their loyalty.
According to a survey of 2,005 Australians, women (49%) are more likely to bank with only one lender compared to men (46%).
The research also found one in three customers (34%) have accounts with two banks, 13% of customers have accounts with three banks, and 5% bank with four or more financial institutions.
These loyal bank customers could be missing out on cost savings by having all their products with one financial institution.
Bessie Hassan, Money Expert at finder.com.au, warns customers about the consequences of bank loyalty.
“You can’t have a ‘one size fits all’ approach.
It’s unlikely that one lender will have the best products for all your banking needs.
“Staying loyal to one bank could mean you forgo savings that you’d enjoy from a product with an alternate provider.
“You could be paying too much interest or you may be paying for features you don’t use, so it’s important to ‘cherry pick’ your products to suit your needs.
“There’s strong competition among lenders and they’re often competing for your business by waiving annual fees or offering rate discounts, so make sure you actively look for better deals at least once a year,” she says.
Ms Hassan says product fees like monthly account-keeping fees or penalties for things like overdrawn accounts can vary greatly between banks.
“Mix and match your financial products based on your specific needs, compare interest rates and prices – don’t pay the ‘lazy tax’,” she says.
Ms Hassan applauds customers who avoid ‘putting all their eggs in one basket’.
“If you don’t shop around, you won’t know if you’re getting a dud deal and that inertia is what the banks rely on,” Ms Hassan says.
Interestingly, West Australians are the most loyal with 56% of people having a relationship with just one bank, compared to 44% of Queenslanders and Victorians.
This article originally appeared on Property Update.
Andrew Mirams is the Founder and Managing Director of Intuitive Finance, a highly respected and multi-award winning Mortgage Brokerage dealing with clients all over Australia and around the world. Andrew has over 30 year’s experience in the finance industry and has assisted clients to secure over $2 Billion in mortgage lending over his time. Intuitive Finance deals with all aspects of lending from helping first homebuyers, someone wanting to upgrade their home or starting out and experienced investors looking to secure that next investment property, we can assist with all those requirements. We also specialise in working with self-employed clients and getting them the best outcomes, along with Commercial and Asset finance solutions. Intuitive Finance is highly regarded in the industry and has been recognised as a national winner of the MFAA customer service award and also one of the finance industry’s top mortgage employers. Our brokers also feature regularly in the Top 100 mortgage brokers list in Australia.