text: Australia's wealthy baby-boomers are disillusioned with service provided by banks and believe loyalty is not rewarded, a survey released on Monday found.
  Those approaching retirement were also unhappy with the performance of their superannuation funds and were looking to move elsewhere wherever possible, the survey by forecaster BIS Shrapnel has found.  
  "Australia's affuent boomers -- the demographic group owning the largest share of private wealth -- are distrustful of the performance and motivations of financial institutions, and yearn for a return to the days when customer loyalty was rewarded," BIS Shrapnel said in the survey titled "Financial Services for the Affluent Boomers."
  Those surveyed had assets worth over A$150,000, excluding the family home.
  The survey of 128 people aged over 45 in 14 seperate focus groups around Australia found they sought more individual treatment by knowledgable staff.  
  "In particular those approaching retirement are more likely to equate good service with personal service and contact," BIS Shrapnel survey project leader Geoff Ludowyke said.
  "They want to develop a relationship with one particular person within their banking branch," he said.
  The survey found that Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) was the least liked of all the banks, Ludowyke said.
  Respondents found the CBA slower, more unfriendly, more impersonal and less modern than the other banks, he said.  
  Westpac Banking Corp Ltd was seen as the next least-liked bank while the ANZ Banking Group Ltd and the National Bank Ltd were seen in another group in-between CBA and the credit unions, which were the most favourably received.
  Former building societies like St George Bank Ltd and Advance Bank Ltd, which are in the process of merging, were seen as similar to the credit unions.
  "Among the major banks with the most negative comments were the Commonwealth and Westpac," Ludowyke told Reuters.  
  "ANZ and NAB were in the next group while the credit unions were in another group out front," he said.
  The survey also found that rich baby-boomers did not believe that swapping pension funds would improve their returns.
  "They intend to move away from superannuation," Ludowyke said.
  Law changes were also generating anxiety about superannuation, he said. "Affluent boomers expect governments to continue to change the rules in a way that will benefit governments rather than contributors," he said.
  The survey also found that banks were perceived as greedy.  
  "Reports of huge profits compound the resentment to bank fees and banks are believed to be primarily concerned with looking after their shareholders rather than their customers," the report said. "Affluent boomers are particularly annoyed by new charges for ATM and EFTPOS usage."
  Ludowyke said BIS Schrapnel would approach the big financial institutions for funding for a more comprehensive survey of 800 people face to face on attitudes towards the financial institutions.
  -- Sydney Newsroom 61-2 373-1800
  