NAB CEO says trust in banks ‘has eroded’, forced to pay $360M in compensations costs

NAB’s full-year profit has dropped 14.2 per cent to $5.7 billion after the lender booked more than $1.1 billion in restructuring costs and customer remediation.

The bank’s cash profit dropped from $6 billion a year ago largely due to $755 million of restructuring costs.

There was also the $360 million impact of refunding and compensating customers, partly for fees-for-no-service.

NAB CEO Andrew Thorburn tells Ross Greenwood trust in banking institutions “has eroded progressively”.

“We’ve got to a point where customers constantly see us as a commodity, as just a manufacturer where there’s no relationship and there’s loyalty.

“And that’s not the way banking should work.

“So the reputation impact has been quite severe.”

But Ross is questioning if the reputational hit is really affecting the bank’s bottom line.

“Well, maybe our growth in market share and therefore growth in revenue hasn’t been what it could’ve been.

“But I think these sorts of intangible things which are hard to measure, they certainly have an impact.”

Click PLAY below to hear the full interview

Falling housing prices are also having an impact on the bank’s profit.

Mr Thorburn tells Ross there are “more risks today” than the bank saw a year ago.

“But I still think they’re manageable.”