Customers let off steam on the Internet

Bank customers have found a new place to let off steam.

They are hitting the World Wide Web instead of their bank branch and are venting online about interest rate rises and shoddy services.

A recent Nielsen Online study has revealed that sites such as Twitter are booming with people publicly expressing their displeasure. The banks know all about it and are monitoring online comments.

Nielsen Online director of analytics Mark Higginson said the statistics showed people who were getting no satisfaction from the traditional methods were going online to seek sympathy support and some revenge on the banks.

As so many people were online, it was an easy way for them to ask one another about their bank's performance.

Mr. Higginson felt that people were not going online specifically to talk about it, but once online if the topic happened to come up then it would be like opening a can of worms.

The major topic of conversation over the past few weeks has been the CBA rate rise. It is however anticipated that other banks would soon follow the CBA rate rise, but it looks like the CBA has copped all the flak.

Mr. Higginson further stated that most of the banks were aware of the online backlash, but he was unaware if they were addressing the problems.

A spokesman from the CBA stated that they do have people who regularly log in to twitter to keep abreast of the issues, which gave them a chance to interact with them, and that they would always look for new ways to interact with their customers.

Other problems being discussed online include the delays of processing mortgage applications.

The National Australia Bank generated the highest percentage of positive online sentiment at 24 per cent.