Wellington, Sept 2 NZPA - Customer satisfaction with the big five banks improved during the year to June, but smaller rivals Kiwibank and TSB remain at the head of the pack, a survey shows.

TSB led the field with a satisfaction level of 89.4 percent in June, higher than a year earlier despite having fallen in recent months, the Roy Morgan New Zealand banking customer satisfaction survey said.

Kiwibank was ahead of its year ago position and has risen in recent months to have a satisfaction level of 85.5 percent in June.

Among the five major banks, satisfaction overall was up 0.9 percentage points to 77.6 percent.

The National Bank rose 2.4 percentage points to second place among the big five with a satisfaction level of 81.6 percent, while ASB rose 2.2 percent to lead the majors with 82.1 percent. BNZ was next with 76.6 percent, followed by Westpac and then the ANZ group, excluding National.

Among main financial institution customers, the satisfaction level for the five major banks was up 1.6 percentage points overall to 84 percent.