PNC, TD Bank, BB&T, and Fifth Third Bank emerged as the national leaders in customer satisfaction among major U.S. Banks in Credio’s 2015 U.S. Banking Satisfaction Report. Meanwhile, several of America’s largest and most popular financial institutions scored poorly in the report, with Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, and Chase receiving the lowest scores among the top ten banks by market share.
It’s interesting to note that USAA’s banking services achieved the top satisfaction ratings in many respects among the top 10 banks in the survey in terms of market share. This mirrors USAA’s performance in Credio’s 2015 Credit Card Satisfaction Report . However, given that USAA’s membership is exclusive to active and former U.S. military members and eligible family members, this report chooses to focus on the other universally-eligible banking institutions.
In an industry dominated by massive institutions and marketing efforts to match, the goal of Credio’s 2015 U.S. Banking Satisfaction Report aimed to collect unbiased ratings and reviews from the full spectrum of banking customers across the country to identify the best banks in terms of customer satisfaction. Our results focused on the ten largest banks by market share, representing over $5.523 trillion in total deposits nationwide (SNL Financial).
Customer Service Satisfaction | Credio
Findings revealed that the most popular type of account was checking accounts, followed by savings accounts and CDs. Checking accounts were nearly four times more popular than CDs. Customers were least satisfied with the interest rates (APYs) and fee structures, respectively, across all three account types. For checking accounts in particular, PNC Bank, Fifth Third Bank, and U.S. Bank received the highest APY satisfaction ratings. Nonetheless, customer attitudes were generally between neutral and relatively dissatisfied towards APYs.
In a weaker economy, the Federal Reserve has lowered the rates, in the neighborhood of 1 percent or less, which in turn leaves customers dissatisfied. Interest rates have been significantly lower than what they were a decade ago when they were around 5 percent. Chart 2 shows the APY ratings of the top ten banks in the survey.
APY Satisfaction Ratings | Credio
Similarly, concerning the fee structure satisfaction ratings with checking accounts, PNC Bank, U.S. Bank, and TD Bank received the highest satisfaction ratings. Fee structure satisfaction ratings were the second lowest of all other ratings, following APYs.
Fairness of Fee Structure | Credio
Finally, survey findings revealed customer loyalty and determined if customers were likely to recommend their bank to family or friends. From these ratings, Credio was able to determine which customers were promoters and which were detractors, and as such calculate an average Net Promoter Score (NPS®) for each bank. PNC Bank, BB&T Bank, and TD Bank received both the highest recommendation ratings and the highest Net Promoter Scores®.
Likelihood to Recommend Bank | Credio
Banks with the Most Satisfied Customers | Credio
Key Findings and Trends :
Features Customers are Most and Least Satisfied With
- The features customers are most satisfied with:
- Online tools (31 percent)
- Customer support (28 percent)
- Coverage of ATMs and branches across the U.S. (27 percent)
- Account fees (10 percent)
- Interest rates (2 percent)
- The features customers are least satisfied with:
- Interest rates (51 percent)
- Account fees (24 percent)
- Coverage of ATMs and branches across the U.S. (12 percent)
- Customer support (8 percent)
- Online tools (5 percent)
Bank Accessibility
- Customers repeatedly mentioned the importance of accessibility to branch or ATM locations. Respondents also found that their bank generally had enough branch locations, with an overall rating of 7.41 out of 10. Similarly, customers in general found that their bank had a good amount of ATM locations, with an average satisfaction rating of 7.37 out of 10.
- The single most important factor when selecting a bank:
- ATMs and availability of branch locations (68 percent)
- Account fees (42 percent)
- Online or mobile presence (27 percent)
- Advice from friends and family (15 percent)
- Account interest rates (13 percent)
Customer Appreciation
- Customers expressed a neutral outlook when asked how valued they felt by their banks. The average rating was 6.71 out of 10. Customers of TD Bank (7.25 out of 10), U.S. Bank (7.10 out of 10), and PNC Bank (7.02 out of 10), respectively, felt that they were the highest-valued customers while Bank of America (5.93 out of 10) was rated the lowest, followed by Citibank (6.15 out of 10) and Wells Fargo (6.47 out of 10).
- Data shows that there is a strong relationship between a customer feeling valued by their bank and their likelihood to recommend their bank to family or friends.
Customer Loyalty
- Customers who were most likely to switch to another bank in the coming year were customers of Citibank (3.67 out of 10), Bank of America (3.27 out of 10), and TD Bank (3.17 out of 10), respectively. Ratings were given on a scale of one through 10 (one being that the customer strongly agrees they will switch and 10 being they strongly disagree). Customers who were least likely to switch their banks were Fifth Third Bank (2.35 out of 10), U.S. Bank (2.44 out of 10), and BB&T (2.49 out of 10).
- Respondents indicated a high degree of loyalty to their banks, with 80 percent having banked with their current institution for five years or more.
Read the Full Report Research Banks
About the Survey
Credio surveyed 3,074 banking customers across the United States in January 2015. For Credio’s banking research tool, click here.
Note: The rankings and graphs account only for banks that are one of the top 10 largest by market share based on survey results.
*Membership to USAA is only available to active military personnel, veterans, and their families. Though it was one of the top rated banks, it has been excluded from the rankings.
This article was syndicated from Business 2 Community: PNC and TD Bank Receive the Highest Customer Satisfaction Ratings
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