Smaller Banks Pack A Punch: Consumer's Best And Worst Banks In 2025

The Co-operative Bank has topped the rankings for customer satisfaction, while ANZ finished at the bottom, according to Consumer NZ’s latest independent survey of New Zealand banking customers.

The Co-operative Bank has taken out the top spot in Consumer’s latest banking satisfaction survey, earning a customer satisfaction score of 77%.

At the other end of the scale, ANZ – the country’s largest bank – scored just 57%. The average satisfaction score across all banks was 64%.

“This is the fourth year in a row that The Co-operative Bank has won our People’s Choice award,” says Jon Duffy, CEO of Consumer NZ.

“It’s an impressive result, especially considering its market share – less than 1%.

“Bigger is not necessarily better. ANZ is New Zealand’s most profitable bank, with the biggest market share, but when it comes to customer satisfaction, it finished bottom of our survey.

Consumer’s annual independent survey measures customer satisfaction across 17 areas, including trust, value for money, digital banking, and customer service.

Don’t bank on the big banks

Duffy notes this year’s survey results come amid persistent concerns about the state of competition in New Zealand’s banking sector and the ever-present threat of scams.

Our survey also found that more than 1 in 5 New Zealanders have fallen victim to a scam that has involved their bank account or a financial service.

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While some progress has been made by banks to address scams – following pressure from central government and advocates for banks to increase efforts to protect customers – New Zealand still lags behind other countries when it comes to banking technology.

“The pace of innovation in the sector has been glacial. Technologies like comprehensive open banking and real-time payments that could save consumers money and keep us safe are still on the ‘to do’ list for banks,” says Duffy.

”Our research also shows fewer than 3% of New Zealanders switch banks each year – one of the lowest switching rates of any service sector we monitor.

“Low switching rates and low satisfaction scores – particularly among banks with the biggest customer bases - is never a good sign for consumers. Banks are yet to deliver improvements to their switching services, as recommended by the Commerce Commission’s market study to improve competition in the sector.

"This is why we publish our annual satisfaction surveys. We strongly encourage people to do their homework and switch to a bank with higher customer satisfaction. It’s easier than you might think and a powerful way to foster competition so that we can collectively raise the bar,” says Duffy.

Key findings from Consumer’s 2025 banking satisfaction survey

The Co-operative Bank achieved the highest overall satisfaction score (77%) delivering consistent, above-average experiences across the board, particularly around digital banking, savings interest rates, and advice

ANZ scored the lowest customer satisfaction rating (57%), with particularly low scores for interest on savings, fees, responsible lending, advice and overall value for money

Consumer says the 20-point gap between the survey’s top and bottom performers highlights just how much customer experience can differ between banks. The full survey results (paywalled) and methodology are available on Consumer's website: Best and worst banks in 2025.

Note:

Our data is from a nationally representative survey of 1,920 New Zealanders, aged 18 years and older, conducted online in February 2025

Ratings cover satisfaction across 17 key service areas. Satisfaction ratings show the proportion of respondents who scored their provider 8, 9 or 10 on a scale from 0 (very dissatisfied) to 10 (very satisfied).

Market share is based on the latest figures from the Banking Ombudsman Scheme Dashboard.

Annual profit before tax figures are from each bank’s latest financial disclosures.

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