The misconduct that came to light at the Hayne royal commission continues to hang over the banking industry, with consumer’s level of trust in Australian banks among the lowest in the world.

According to EY’s NextWave Global Consumer Banking Survey, 73 per cent of Australian consumers “completely or mostly” trust the financial institution where they have their primary financial relationship.

The only country where the banking industry has a lower consumer trust rating is the United Kingdom, at 72 per cent.

The global average is a trust rating of 82 per cent. China and Indonesia have ratings above 90 per cent, and Vietnam, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, France and Germany have ratings above 80 per cent.

Despite the low trust rating, 79 per cent of Australian consumers reported that their primary financial relationship is with a “traditional bank”

Only 5 per cent said their primary financial relationship is with a neobank. 

Ten per cent said they have at least one product with a neobank, compared with 27 per cent globally.

Tim Dring, EY’s Oceania banking and capital markets leader, said the level of primary relationship with traditional Australian banks has remained fairly constant in recent years.

Dring said that while the proportion of consumers that have a relationship with a neobank is low by global standards, it has doubled over the past couple of years. 

Dring said Australian consumer are happy to have multiple banking relationships, but they would prefer integrated services and tailored products.

He said the emerging open banking market offers an opportunity for service providers to fill the gap.