2024 Consumer Finance Awards: How we chose the winners

To bring you this year's Consumer Finance Awards, Rainmaker Information worked with Money to develop a readership questionnaire to find out from subscribers which banks they used and how they rated them for products and features, customer service and more.

The life insurance awards research was conducted by Rainmaker Information in partnership with Plan For Life.

Here's how we did it.

BANK OF THE YEAR
The winner had the highest overall composite rating scores across product and features, customer service and digital experience. Only national full-service banks were eligible to win this premier award. 
WINNER: MACQUARIE BANK

CUSTOMER-OWNED INSTITUTION OF THE YEAR 
Similar to Bank of the Year but only full-service customer-owned banks were eligible to win this premier award. 
WINNER: BANK AUSTRALIA

BUSINESS BANK OF THE YEAR 
There's more to being a leading business bank than just offering a good deal on business accounts and loans. This is why this year Rainmaker's methodology identified the leading national full-service business banks that offered the most comprehensive services across business accounts, loans, credit cards, term deposits, currency management, cyber risk and fraud protection, point-of-sale and ecommerce, international transactions and merchant support.
WINNER: COMMONWEALTH BANK

NON-BANK LENDER OF THE YEAR 
The winner was the non-bank lending institution judged by Rainmaker research to score highest across seven core dimensions: product range, business strength, ability to raise lending capital, innovation, corporate transparency, loan quality and customer depth.
WINNER: LA TROBE FINANCIAL

BANK OF THE YEAR - YOUNG PEOPLE
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall composite rating scores across products and features, customer service and digital experience from Money subscribers aged 18 to 34 years. 
WINNER: ING BANK

BANK OF THE YEAR - RETIREES 
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall composite rating scores across products and features, customer service and digital experience from subscribers aged 55 or older. 
WINNER: BENDIGO BANK

BANK OF THE YEAR - PRODUCT 
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall rating scores for products and features. 
WINNER: UBANK

BANK OF THE YEAR - CUSTOMER SERVICE 
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall ratings for customer service. 
WINNER: BANK AUSTRALIA

BANK OF THE YEAR - DIGITAL
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall rating scores for digital experience. 
WINNER: UBANK

BANK OF THE YEAR - SAVERS
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall composite rating scores across products and features, customer service and digital experience from Money subscribers aged 35 to 54 years. 
WINNER: GREAT SOUTHERN BANK

HOME LENDER OF THE YEAR 
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall composite rating scores from Money subscribers for mortgage products and features, customer service and digital experience. WINNER: MACQUARIE BANK

CREDIT CARD ISSUER OF THE YEAR 
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall composite rating scores from Money subscribers for credit card products and features, customer service and digital experience. WINNER: COMMONWEALTH BANK

MONEY MINDER OF THE YEAR 
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall composite rating scores from Money subscribers for everyday savings accounts and term deposit products and features, customer service and digital experience. 
WINNER: MACQUARIE BANK

INVESTMENT PROPERTY LENDER OF THE YEAR 
The banking provider that achieved the highest overall composite rating scores from Money subscribers for investment mortgage products and features, customer service and digital experience. 
WINNER: COMMONWEALTH BANK

INSURER OF THE YEAR 
This category took into consideration home and contents and car insurance premium rates as well as holistic factors such as corporate strength, breadth of what the insurers deliver and how they support customers, customer engagement and reliability in paying claims. 
WINNER: BUDGET DIRECT

DIRECT LIFE INSURANCE COVER OF THE YEAR 
The winner was judged to be the best life insurance company across the key product sets of life insurance, funeral, trauma, income protection and accident insurance, where these products are marketed directly to consumers, for example, online. Products were assessed across financial strength, product features, premium rates, service and market strength. 
WINNER: NOBLEOAK

HEALTH AND WELLNESS COVER OF THE YEAR 
The winner was judged to be the health and wellness life insurance product with the best overall scores across financial strength, product features, premium rates, service and market strength.
 WINNER: METLIFE

LONGEVITY COVER OF THE YEAR 
The winner was judged to be the best life insurance product designed to assist retirees in meeting the challenges of longevity, meaning 'life expectancy', by providing flexible and reliable income-stream solutions. 
WINNER: CHALLENGER

MARGIN LENDER OF THE YEAR 
The winner was judged by Rainmaker Information to achieve the highest score across core dimensions, spanning product and investment choice breadth, depth, research services, type of investment available, access to international markets and interest rates payable on loan products. WINNER: LEVERAGED EQUITIES

INVESTMENT BOND PROVIDER OF THE YEAR 
The winner was judged to be the investment bond with the best financial and strengths, product benefits, customer service, and support and training of financial advisers. 
WINNER: GENERATION LIFE

Get stories like this in our newsletters.