On the 9th December, the IBCB published the fourth éist 2024 Public Trust in Banking report. The éist report, based on the Edelman Trust research model, shows trust in retail banking among the Irish public entering positive territory for the first time since IBCB began measuring in 2021. The findings reflect a renewed sense of trust in banks generally and the highest trust levels recorded to date: a 16-point increase among the general public and a substantial 33-point rise among SMEs.
Speaking about the 2024 éist findings, CEO of the IBCB, Marion Kelly, said: “Since our establishment in 2019, the IBCB and our member banks have focused on rebuilding trust in banking in Ireland and this survey is a key means for us to assess the impact of this work. Over the past four years, findings have consistently shown steady increases in trust in the Irish banking sector. While there is still work to do to reach the same levels of trust in banking found across many other jurisdictions, the progress to date is significant.”
Since its inception, the IBCB has highlighted that there is no fast fix to reverse an embedded negative perception of banks in Ireland. However, the éist 2024 report demonstrates that progress is being made; cultural reform is underway, trust levels are improving, and public acknowledgement of that will be based on the lived experience of people’s direct dealings with the sector.
Chairman of the IBCB, Mr Justice John Hedigan, said: “éist 2024 signals real progress on rebuilding trust and reflects the commitment of the sector and its staff to cultural change, but sustaining and accelerating this momentum will mean continued prioritisation of openness, responsibility, and proactive customer care.”
The findings in the éist report provide the IBCB with invaluable insight into the perception of retail banks in Ireland and inform how the Board will proceed in pursuit of cultural reform in the sector. The IBCB continues to assess public sentiment on an ongoing basis and to act on these perspectives.
On 17 July the IBCB published the éist 2023 Public Trust in Banking report; our survey measuring public sentiment towards the five retail banks operating in Ireland. The report reveals that while banking remains in a state of flux in Ireland, the slow recovery of public trust in the sector continues. Over the last three years of the éist survey, the research demonstrates that people make a distinction between their relationship with their local bank branch, individual banks, and their perception of the wider sector.
The 2023 survey found that trust in the banking sector among the general population has improved by 10 points when compared to 2022, driven by results in purpose, ability, and competence, albeit remaining in a negative domain at -15. Trust among respondents from the SME sector remains ahead of the public and improves again this year by 2 points to -5.
Despite managing the departure of 2 exiting banks, the industry has shown improvement – Trust in Irish Banks has seen improvement
Trust in bank branches is significantly higher than the collective industry – demonstrating that proximity impacts trust positively. The éist research was carried out in early 2023 against a backdrop of the departure of two of the five retail banks and the issues this gave rise to for customers, such as switching and branch closures. The survey results highlight that the impact of two of these banks leaving the market has understandably significantly impacted perceptions of trust and as a result, the wider trust score for all IBCB member banks is slightly lower than the collective industry.
Decline has been driven by a significant decline for the 2 exiting banks
On 11 July 2022 the IBCB published the 2022 éist Public Trust in Banking survey report. The éist survey, based on the Edelman Trust research model, shows that trust amongst the Irish public in banks remains low but stable with evidence of increasing trust amongst SMEs but an absence of trust amongst farmers, who were surveyed as a specific cohort for the first time this year.
The report is published against a backdrop of significant societal volatility, including an emerging cost of living crisis, ongoing uncertainty created by Brexit, a war in mainland Europe and significant change in the Irish banking market, with the impending departure of two of the five main retail banks.
The research found that trust in the banking sector remains stable, improving slightly in comparison to the previous year, which is significant given the backdrop of societal volatility against which the survey fieldwork was conducted. While the overall trust score for the general population has increased by three points, compared to the previous year, it remains low at -25. Encouragingly, the trust score for the SME sector continues to trend in a positive direction standing at -7, an improvement of six points on the previous year. However, there is a clear absence of trust amongst the farming community, who were surveyed as a specific cohort for the first time in 2022, and who registered a –77 trust score, ranking significantly lower than both the general population and SMEs.
Encouragingly, levels of trust in the SME sector are moving in a positive direction against all four dimensions of trust: Ability, Integrity, Dependability, and Purpose. The report found that the relationships businesses form with banks in securing credit and managing their ongoing finances is contributing to an increasingly positive sentiment. Replicating this across the general population and amongst the farming cohort is key.
(Link to the report and press release)
In 2021, the IBCB commissioned our first ever survey of Public Trust in Banking. Following a tender process, we selected Edelman Data and Intelligence to design and conduct the survey using their globally recognised methodology for assessing trust – the Edelman Trust Management Diagnostic. Through application of the Edelman methodology, we can benchmark the findings for Irish banking with comparative international data. This allows us to gauge how the Irish industry compares globally on key aspects of culture and behaviour and overall trust. Our previous Public and Stakeholder Consultation report in 2019 was a qualitative report, which gave us insight into areas of concern from members of the public and stakeholders. Our éist Public Trust in Banking Survey provides us with quantitative information, with a repeatable methodology to allow us to measure and monitor public trust in banking over time.
This survey was conducted during the Spring of 2021 a period characterised by immense pressures for many bank customers, staff and the wider economy due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. In addition, there were a number of material announcements from IBCB member banks during this period which will result in changes to organisational structures and the wider banking market in Ireland.
The survey took the form of an online questionnaire, with 1,007 members of the general population of Ireland and over 251 Irish SME business decision-makers or owners, with a particular focus on micro businesses (defined as having an annual turnover of up to €2,000,000). The Edelman Net Trust Score (ENTS) provides a singular, numerical score of the sector or organisation’s trust level and where it’s heading, broken down into high, neutral, and low trust. ENTS is calculated by high trust minus low trust. The ENTS score is measured using four key trust dimensions; Ability, Dependability, Integrity, and Purpose.
The survey shows that trust levels in Irish banking remain low and are significantly behind the global benchmark. The Irish industry scores a composite score of -28 which compares with +16 for the global benchmark. An interesting insight points to trust levels increasing when comparing ‘the banks’ (-28) in other words, views of the overall industry, versus views of ‘my bank’ (-10) and ‘my branch’ (-5). This points to the impact of continued entrenched views about the overall sector that are difficult to change, but much better trust levels in the individual bank that the customer does business with, and trust levels being greater again where there is a local dimension and interaction. The results show that many of the concerns we heard in our 2019 Public and Stakeholder Consultation report remain areas of concern for customers today.
There are clear differences in levels of trust in banks across age groups, with the younger demographic (18-24) expressing greater levels of trust than older age groups;
An area of disappointment was that despite the supports put in place by the industry during the pandemic via payment breaks, additional supports for customers in vulnerable positions and schemes such as the SBCI Covid-19 Credit Guarantee Scheme, which involved significant effort from staff at all levels, in particular in front line branches, this has not resulted in an overall improvement in trust levels. The results show a small minority (higher in SMEs) who report that their trust levels in banks have increased during the pandemic and point to an opportunity for the sector to build on this via continued supports for customers through the next phase of dealing with the aftermath of the pandemic on the economy. Overall, it is clear that there remains significant levels of mistrust with much of the public and changing this perception is very difficult.
The survey breaks down perceptions of trust in IBCB member banks using the four trust dimensions. Again, we see variances between age groups, between members of the general population and SMEs.
The results of the Public Trust in Banking Survey will shape the areas of focus in our work programme in 2021/22 and beyond. We intend conducting this survey on an annual basis.
