Restoring trust
Our output and impact
Trust in financial institutions is low. The economic downturn and series of crises and government
bailouts that followed caused public confidence in commercial financial institutions to plummet.
Rabobank is no exception. We believe that rebuilding that trust is pivotal to ensuring a good and
lasting relationship with all our stakeholders: customers, members, employees, regulators, politicians,
investors, rating agencies and society at large. While recent reports show that our efforts are paying off
and that confidence is slowly returning, much work still needs to be done.
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Rabobank believes that earning customer trust begins by truly
listening to the concerns of all stakeholders and by showing
our commitment to our cooperative principles of customer
participation, long-term relationships, sustainability and
financial solidity. We have launched a number of initiatives to
grant clients easier access to new, relevant products, to focus on
sustainability and banking ethics, to improve communication
and problem resolution, and to increase transparency.
These products, measures and programmes are just a few of the
ways we as a bank are working on to restore and strengthen
stakeholder confidence.
Reputation
The loss of confidence in banking institutions had
consequences for the reputation of banks, and Rabobank's
own reputation has taken a hit since 2012/13. The bank no
longer enjoys the leading position it has traditionally held.
But Rabobank still has the highest score on reliability and
preference, and the gap between Rabobank and its competitors
is small. The awareness of Rabobank being a cooperative
remained high in 2016, with a score of 78%. However,
Rabobank's rating as a cooperative saw a gradual decline from
the significantly higher levels in 2013. This particular appraisal
has continued to decline in 2016 and is lower than it was in
previous years.
Bank reputation in the Netherlands1
Annual average 2016
Annual average 2015
Annual average 2014
Annual average 2013
Annual average 2012
Rabobank as a cooperative
Familiarity with Rabobank as a cooperative
78%
79%
78%
81%
76%
Positive valuation of Rabobank as a cooperative
47%
49%
52%
56%
57%
Rabobank image
Reliable
No. 1: 33%
No. 1: 33%
No. 1: 33%
No. 1: 39%
No. 1: 46%
Lead on number 2
3 percentage points
5 percentage points
5 percentage points
12 percentage points
14 percentage points
Bank preference
Rabobank preference
No. 1: 47%
No. 1: 46%
No. 1: 48%
No. 1: 52%
No. 1: 53%
Lead on number 2
3 percentage points
2 percentage points
4 percentage points
10 percentage points
10 percentage points
1 Figures are based on a survey by the research agency No Ties.
Every year, over 7,500 people in the Netherlands are interviewed
about the reputation of the country's various banks. They are asked
which reputation indicators they associate most strongly with which
banks (multiple answers are possible). This results in scores for the
banks on each of the various reputation indicators. Similar figures are
not available for the other countries in which Rabobank operates.
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Our output and impact: restoring trust
