It’s always interesting to read about a bank like the Commonwealth bank winning an industry award. But can it be believed?
Unfortunately this question is rarely, if ever asked, and this is disappointing because it goes to the heart of ethical advertising and telling the whole truth. This is not to say that the Commonwealth bank does not deserve an award, but it begs the question as to what the award really means and how awards are given in the first place.
How Was the Award Given to the Commonwealth Bank Judged?
The bank actually won 5 awards from Money Magazine in 2011.
The also won 2 of the inaugural Australian Lending Awards for:
- Third Party Operator of the Year
- Best Innovator
Whatever that means.
But for the moment let’s look at what the awards really mean for you.
First, you can’t judge whether one bank is better than another until you know the criteria on which the award was judged.
Second, the awards don’t really have any relevance for you right now because they are at best a measure of a bank over the last 6 – 12 months. After all we can’t be named “XXX of the year” until the year is over right?
Thirdly, who’s going to take the time to check the awards out? If the Commonwealth bank wins the “Banking Website of the Year”are you going to check out the ANZ site, or Westpac or even ING Direct?
Would it interest you to know that just about every bank, whether retail or non retail lender, has one an award in the past.
Previous winners include:
- Rams.
- ING Direct.
- Westpac.
- ANZ.
And the list goes on and on. By the time I finish my research I wouldn’t be surprised to discover that every bank has one at least one award or another that they can use by their publicity or marketing departments.
Want to know the Awards on offer? Here are just a few.
- Credit Card Issuer of the Year
- Banking Website of the Year
- Margin Lender of the Year
- Best Cash Management Bank in Australia
- Third Party Operator of the Year
- Best Innovator
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of the Year
- Australian Issuer of the Year
- Service Excellence Award in the Large Business category
- Best Medium Business in NSW
- National Medium Business
- Customer Service Executive NSW
- Customer Service CEO of the Year
- Standard and Poor’s (S&P) Fund Awards – Structured Products
- W3 Awards for Banking/Bill Paying
- W3 Awards for Branding
- Bank of the Year
- Money Minder of the Year
- Australian Financial Institution of the Yea Development Programme
- Financial Services Executive of the Yea
- Chief Information Officer of the Year.
What about some Interactive media awards like:
- Best in Class, Banking (Projects)
- Award, Investor Relations
- Award for eCommerce
- Award for Banking
- Award for B2B
- Best in Class for Banking
Then you have the Australian Private Banking Awards where a bank can win an award for many categories including:
- Outstanding Private Banking Institution of the Year (in the $1m to $10m bracket)
- Best Private Banking Relationship Manager
And the list seems endless. It’s no wonder we can all marvel at how good our bank really is.
It’s a bit like every child wins a prize”!
In the coming months I’ll be looking at exactly how at least one of these award brackets are really determined so you can work out for yourself what they really mean.
Now, I don’t believe that consumers make up their mind on which bank to choose on the basis of which award a bank or lender receives. At least I hope not. There are far, far better ways to do that as I have told you about in previous posts when it come to working out how to choose the best home loan.
Is the Commonwealth Bank Deceiving You?
And just to make things perfectly clear, I am not suggesting that the Commonwealth bank does not deserve the awards they have won, nor that they may be a good choice for you. All I want to point out is that you have to put these awards in perspective.
I am not saying there is any deceit. In fact, many banks use the same marketing techniques as the Commonwealth bank to sell their home loans and to that extent they are all in the same boat.
So, don’t travel in the same boat! Get out and get a better view by taking out the hype and do a proper analysis by using the methods I have shown you or at the very least call a mortgage broker to assist you.
The only warning I issue in respect of the Commonwealth Bank is to be careful when using a mortgage broker who may be compromised by the volume requirements placed on them by the Commonwealth bank.
You can read my discussion of this here.
My final point is that you should always use a mortagge broker to get a dispassionate view. But please be careful when dealing with a broker who suggests a loan from the Commonwealth Bank.
