"Term Deposits are Dead"

Customer advocacy rules as ownership of customer’s total banking relationship diminishes

18 May 2004 –

Superbank is on course to reach a quarter of a billion dollars in deposits for its SuperSaver product by the end of September. SuperSaver is experiencing exponential growth by redefining the term deposit market in New Zealand with its “Term Deposit Returns without the Terms” positioning. Deposits recently passed $150 million and new account balances average $24,000.

Customers are adding SuperSaver to their portfolio as a complement to their existing banking facilities. With Superbank customer advocacy ratings at an extremely high level, they are also discussing the benefits of SuperSaver amongst networks of friends and colleagues with term deposits.

“Customer advocacy is our most important performance metric,” says James Munro, chief operating officer of Superbank. “Satisfaction surveys don’t tell the whole story and often lead to complacency. The ultimate measure of satisfaction is whether or not your customer would put themselves on the line by recommending you and your products to a friend or family member, without any incentive to do so.

Our customers do this in increasing numbers, telling their friends that term deposits are dead, proving that SuperSaver is not a me-too product. “Traditionally banks have talked of owning the total customer relationship and they achieved this by hooking the customer on a cornerstone product and then relying on customer apathy to gain the rest of the business. Those days are ending. Superbank products will continue to redefine product categories and will win customers based on being best of breed for their needs. If we were to end up fulfilling all a customer’s banking needs, we want to do so because each product has proven itself in the minds of the customer as the best choice.”

ENDS

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