Customer Review of St.George Bank
As a customer of St.George Bank for around 15 years – I figured it would be interesting to write an article about the changes I have seen, the support I have received and the different areas I believe that St.George have both excelled and declined in over the last few years.
Like any business or product that requires a level of loyalty, you are always as loyal as the deals that are around, meaning that if another bank is doing much better – consumers will inevitably move banks. Sometimes however, the consumer (me) has so many accounts with the original bank that it makes it hard to move, though for me this is not the case and wanted to state that before I continue.
What products do I have with St.George?
- St.George Everday Savings Account.
- 4x Dragon Direct High Interest Savings Accounts. (Dont ask why I have 4!)
- St.George Vertigo Mastercard
- Soon to have a loan also.
Customer Service at St.George
To date I have never been treated rudely by a member of St.George bank, whether it be in person or via the telephone banking. I have seen other members of the public lose their cool inside the branch but this normally is the result of their own issues – not that of the member of staff serving them.
So was service better 10 years ago? In a small way, I believe Yes. The reason for this was because the branches were not as packed, there was not as much formality – and St.George prided itself on being the happy bank (or happy dragon?). This does not mean to say that the service today is worse – its just different and not as great as when I first became a member.
Why is St.George ‘my bank’?
- They are polite when I enter the branch.
- Their rates are well below that of all the other major banks.
- They offer a great diversity of products and services that fulfill my financial needs.
- I have been with them for a while.
- Great telephone support that is not sent overseas!
Where St.George could improve
- Offer more competitive rates. The Mastercard (Vertigo) was once the best on the market. Now its quite average.
- Offer higher interest earning on everyday accounts. Eg; My Everyday savings account should fight to have my monthly pay cheque put into it.
- Make it possible to lower your credit limit via online banking.
- Offer incentives for doing certain things with financial products. Eg; Invest $500 each month into your Direct Saver account without withdrawing and recieve bonus monthly interest.
Where do you bank and why? I would love to hear from you.
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6 Responses for Customer Review of St.George Bank
I bank with Commonwealth mainly because I have been with them for 5+ years. I am considering doing my banking with Bank West as they are starting to offer lower interest rates and more products that are competitive.
I agree that the St.George Vertigo Mastercard is lacking in quality any more – the BankWest Lite Mastercard is almost 3% lower in interest.
[...] calling my bank (St.George Bank and Commonwealth Bank) to ask if they gave discounts on Travel Insurance – I learnt that they both [...]
Did you hear that St.George bank just dropped their fixed rate home loans? They dropped a wopping percentage, large then that of all the major 4 banks.
Go St.George Bank!
I have been a St George customer for around 6 years now and initially found them good. Recently though I have applied for changes to my Home Loan which is a portfolio loan and the service and responce time has been terrible. 18 moths ago it took me almost 5 months for one change to be made to my loan and just this month it has now taken St George over 8 weeks to arrange a tranfer of my loan over to a new property and $50k additional funds. The reason for this delay changes every week. I have been so disappointed by how they have treated me this time that I will be changing banks at my earliest possibility.
I have used St George as my mortgager, and I am super super super disappointed by their services. They have blocked my internet account and refused to reactivate it for me over the phone because they claimed they couldn’t verify my identity. It was however later found out that they have input the wrong gender on my record! But since I was overseas I had no way to verify myself unless I flew all the way to Australia and present myself.
Worst thing is staff over the phone was very rude and unhelpful. They bascially tried to hang up on me after i asked them if there were any other alternative because internet banking was the most convenient way for me to access my account.
I am moving to HSBC which is so much better in services, esp in terms of taking care of overseas customers.
Don’t ever consider St. George, they are a nightmare!
St George’s loan approval timeframe is a disgrace. I have waited 3 weeks for a pre-approval. Some of the reasons and requests for more info were nothing short of moronic. Of all the banks i have had dealings with St George is far and away the worst. So dont even consider St George in terms of finance.
