KEY POINTS:
Looking to change your bank? Not satisfied with the levels of service you are currently getting? Well, you'll have to move your money offshore in order to get the very best on offer.
The world's best banks are located, not surprisingly, in Switzerland and Hong Kong, a study released today shows.
Consultants Booz Allen Hamilton studied banks in 17 countries - New Zealand was not among them - in their survey.
The best individual performers across all the countries in the study were HSBC Hong Kong, Raiffeisen in Switzerland and UBS in Switzerland.
HSBC Hong Kong tops the tables for best branches and best mobile sales teams, while Citibank UK provides the best call centres.
Two banks in Korea, Woori Bank and Citibank, feature in the top three banks for their online divisions, while the UK's HBOS offers the best "multi-channel" experience.
The fast-growing island state of Hong Kong has taken the place of Switzerland as the location of the best-performing banks in the world.
One would suspect, however, that the appeal and confidentiality of a Swiss bank account will still remain as alluring a proposition as ever for the world's super-rich.
In the survey Switzerland came in at number two overall, with the United States third.
Hong Kong has the best performing retail banks, leading in three out of five channels: branches, call centres and mobile sales force.
Hong Kong branches "have developed advanced segmented offerings with high availability of specialist advisers and branches designed to suggest stylish hotel lobbies with interactive TV walls.
"Their call centres have instant connection to a human being and short waiting times, whilst their mobile sales advisers are available to meet anywhere at short notice", the survey said.
Switzerland came in second place, with strong performance in branches and in call centres, where typically one agent will handle a query from start to end.
The United States came third in the rankings and scored as the second highest country in terms of branch performance, largely due to "innovative retail strategies focussed on attracting customers into the branch such as convenient opening hours, retail-like promotions and an emphasis on customer service".
In other areas, Korea leads the field by a considerable margin in terms of online performance, with high security levels, and the UK scores well on "multi-channel" performance.
Whilst New Zealand did not feature in the survey, Australia did; and the results for our trans-Tasman neighbour were none too flattering.
The study found that Australian banks came in 13th in retail banking service, near the bottom of the table of 17 countries.
The survey ranked 100 major retail banks, measuring their performance in four key areas of customer service: branches, call centres, online banking and deployment of mobile bankers.
Booz Allen Hamilton conducted the extensive research by interviewing 2000 banking customers. It also dispatched shopping teams to go into branches, surf on the internet, and deal with call centres and mobile sales teams.
The Aussies did quite badly in terms of the service levels provided by their branches and call centres, and were seen to be lagging contemporary best practice in online banking.
The one bright spot for the Australians was in mobile banking, where they ranked a surprisingly high 2nd place, behind only Hong Kong.
Perhaps the outlook for Australia is rosier, though, since HSBC's Asian chief, banking guru Michael Smith, is soon to join ANZ over in Sydney.
TIPS FOR BANKING SUCCESS
The study's recommendations are hardly rocket science, with many of the areas checkmarked for improvement being all-too-familiar frustrations for banking customers everywhere.
Going forward, the study's writers said retail banks need to:
* Provide dedicated channels (website, call centre, mobile sales forces and specialist areas in branches) for affluent customers;
* Reduce waiting times in branches through the use of welcome desks (concierge concept) and the option of making appointments in advance;
* Efficient call centre menus and staffing that enable customers to quickly reach people who can resolve their queries;
* Enable customers to tailor websites, supported by strong security measures (ie, random number generators);
* Offer mobile sales advisers who can complete transactions at the meeting, for selected customer groups; and
* Enhance the ability to commence a transaction on one channel and complete it on another.
