Bank customers surveyed by unions

The banking sector needs to change and customers are being given the opportunity to have their say in the matter by unions on both sides of the Tasman.

New Zealand's Finsec and Australia's Finance Sector Union are launching a major public survey to find out what customers really want from their banks.

"Bank workers are committed to better banking. But consumers might not know that even basic salary increases are routinely tied to meeting aggressive sales targets for high-debt products like credit cards," said FSU national secretary Leon Carter.

"Consumer debt is soaring, interest rates are going up, more jobs are being sent offshore and banks show no signs of embracing better banking soon. Governments show no signs of requiring it, either."

Australians and New Zealanders owe more than $50 billion on credit cards, up from about $14 billion in 1999, the unions said.

On both sides of the Tasman, the ratio of household debt to disposable income has soared to about 160 per cent. In 2009, Australian consumer debt exceeded GDP for the first time.

"Loading people up with debt they can't afford can't go on forever," said Finsec general secretary Andrew Casidy.

"With this survey, we want to help explain why the debt crisis is so bad and work with consumers to wake up governments to fix it."

The survey, hosted on www.better-banking.org, runs until April 26.

- NZPA