Finance: Banking
Three hundred and seven banking disclosures now sit in the NPS Intelligence archive, a corpus that includes recent standout performances from Customers Bancorp (81), Oakworth Capital Inc. (95), and America First Credit Union (100), alongside a long tail of legacy weak results from institutions such as Westpac and NAB that have since begun to repair their customer relationships.
The headline
The banking sector median now stands at 70.0 across 307 canonical disclosures, with an average of 62.3. Both figures sit below the corpus-wide median of 74, reflecting a sector where customer advocacy has historically lagged other industries, though the gap is narrowing. The distribution is broad: credit unions and community banks cluster in the 75–95 range, while large universal banks and legacy institutions remain concentrated between 40 and 65.
This four-point shortfall versus the all-industry benchmark is consistent with banking's structural challenges—complex regulatory environments, legacy technology stacks, and customer relationships shaped by inertia rather than enthusiasm. That said, 2026's median of 81.0 suggests the sector's leading edge is closing the gap, driven by digital-native challengers and regional players with tighter service loops.
NPS evolution
The sector bottomed in 2020 at a median of 51.0, rebounded through 2023 to 79.5, dipped slightly in 2024 to 72.0, and has since climbed to 81.0 in 2026. Average scores track a similar arc, rising from 41.8 in 2020 to 75.3 this year. The improvement reflects both recovery from the pandemic-era service disruptions and a genuine compositional shift as disclosure volume has tilted toward higher-performing regional and digital banks.
Disclosure volume
Disclosure activity has accelerated sharply: from a single data point in 2014, the sector added 23 disclosures in 2021, 32 in 2023, and 57 so far in 2026. This growth reflects both broader adoption of NPS as a C-suite metric and increased investor and analyst scrutiny of customer experience as a leading indicator of deposit stability and fee income resilience.
Company stories
ANZ's 144-point recovery
ANZ recorded the largest swing in the database: from -55.5 in July 2020 to 88.5 in April 2026, a 144-point climb across three disclosures. The turnaround followed a multi-year simplification programme, branch closures, and heavy investment in mobile and digital channels. Westpac followed a similar trajectory, moving from -63.1 in June 2020 to 14.0 by late 2021—a 77-point gain—though it remains well short of sector norms. Both Australian majors were hammered during the Royal Commission era and subsequent service failures; these recoveries mark genuine operational repair, not just statistical noise.
Dudley Building Society's retreat
Not all movement is positive. Dudley Building Society fell from 90.8 in July 2023 to 42.0 in June 2026, a 49-point drop across five disclosures. The decline coincides with integration challenges following a merger and technology platform migration. It's a reminder that even institutions with strong incumbent advocacy can stumble when operational complexity outpaces execution capacity.
Persistent negatives
The bottom of the distribution remains populated by legacy weak performers. NAB contributed four separate negative readings between 2018 and 2022, bottoming at -18.0 in April 2020. RBS disclosed -22.0 in October 2018, and CapFed hit -26.47 in November 2019. These scores reflect trust deficits that took years to accumulate and are proving equally slow to reverse.
Fresh in 2026
The most recent batch of disclosures continues to showcase the sector's bifurcation. High performers are clustered among digital challengers and relationship-focused regionals, while mainstream retail banks settle into the 55–65 band:
- Oakworth Capital Inc. reported 95 in mid-July 2026, paired with a 95% client retention rate and 14% net income growth.
- SwitchThink Solutions disclosed 84 in late July, claiming "world-class service levels" in its technology and banking solutions business.
- Customers Bancorp reported 81 on three separate occasions this month, consistently beating the industry average of 41 cited in its filings.
- ProvidusUnity Bank posted 76 in its 2025 annual report, disclosed in July 2026.
- Zopa came in at 75 in June, following its transition to a full banking licence.
- SouthState reported 64 in consumer banking for Q2 2026, alongside record loan growth.
- Emirates NBD disclosed 58 in H1, paired with record pre-tax profits.
- Alliant Credit Union reported 57 in late July, noted as "significantly exceeding" the financial institution average.
Older nuggets worth a second look
- Corporate Central Credit Union improved from 67.7 in 2016 to 81.3 in 2017, one of the highest in financial services at the time (December 2017).
- The Nottingham reported 78.4 in August 2017, reflecting strong customer advocacy in its building society segment.
- Newbury Building Society recorded 65 in October 2017, described as over three times the UK average.
- Virgin Money climbed from +29 at the end of 2016 to +40 by October 2017, marking sustained momentum in customer satisfaction.
- NAB claimed +24 in September 2017 as the highest among Australian banks—a sharp contrast to its -18.0 readings in 2019 and 2020.
- ING Direct posted +38 in November 2014, described as the clear winner among Australian banks at the time.