Trust in NAB plummets following Hayne report

NAB is the major victim of commissioner Kenneth Hayne’s final report, with a dramatic increase in distrust and a significant erosion in its Net Trust Score or NTS, according to the latest Roy Morgan Net Trust Score Survey conducted on 9 and 10 February.

As a consequence of the royal commission revelations, all of the big-four banks have suffered NTS declines driven by increases in distrust.

The January survey revealed CBA as the bank brand with the lowest level of trust and the highest level of distrust. However, in the wake of the Hayne report, NAB skyrocketed into the unenviable position as Australia’s least trusted and most distrusted bank brand.

In January, 36.9 per cent of Australians distrusted NAB, but in the immediate wake of the report’s release the number of Australians distrusting NAB soared to 53.7 per cent.

According to Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine, "This is the highest level of distrust we have ever seen for a bank brand in Australia."

Simultaneously, NAB’s level of trust plunged from 18.5 per cent to 11.5 per cent delivering it the banking sector’s worst Net Trust Score of -42.2 per cent, with the other three major brands in the minus 20s.

Ms Levine noted that the real question will be what happens next.

"Without trust there is no civil society. The Australian population has now expressed their anger and distrust with Australian banks. It is now time to rebuild that trust," Ms Levine said.

"Company directors of these banks are facing the biggest challenge of their careers – to reverse the soaring levels of distrust in their brands. These directors on the boards of banks need truly independent reporting over time of their brand’s trust – and more critically, their distrust."

This is the sixth Roy Morgan Net Trust Score Survey of Banks. Since October 2017, some 6,000 Australians have been asked which bank they trust and which they distrust – and why.