Our aim in The 2023 readability scorecard: Australian banking industry is to compare the readability of documents produced by the largest banking companies in Australia.
Ethos CRS analysed the readability of 66 documents from 11 banks (PDFs published by banks on their websites). Not one document came close to reaching a benchmark score of 100. The average readability score for the 11 banks was 53.9.
These findings suggest that banks still have some work to do if they are to engage clearly and effectively with their customers. Customers will gravitate to content that is easy to read. When customers can engage with content because it is clear, their confidence increases.
Our recommendations
Codify the principles of plain language
Banking industry peak bodies and companies should codify a plain language standard and urge its uptake by banks.
Set universal readability standards
Banks should adopt specific, measurable, achievable and realistic standards to improve the readability of all content they produce and publish.
Download: The 2023 readability scorecard Australian banking industry (PDF)