News

US FIs make gains in customer approval

November 16, 2016

A new report by the American Customer Satisfaction Index indicates consumer approval of banks is growing. Bank customer satisfaction overall has climbed 5.3 percent, to an ACSI score of 80 on a scale of 100, according to a press release.

Regional and community banks led the way with a combined score of 83 (up 3.8 percent). Super regional banks gained 3.9 percent to 79. Although national banks ranked lowest, they were the most improved (up 6.9 percent to 77)

"Smaller usually means higher customer satisfaction when it comes to banking services, and that still holds true albeit to a lesser degree this year," said Claes Fornell, ACSI founder and chairman, in the release. "ACSI data show that national banks have improved in nearly every aspect of the customer experience. But even with some of their highest scores ever, national banks still lag regional banks."

Citibank led among national banks with a 12 percent jump to an ACSI score of 82. Wells Fargo lost the top spot by improving the least, adding just 1 percent, to 76. Bank of America (up 10 percent) and Chase (up 6 percent), at 75, are closing in on Wells Fargo.

BB&T (up 6 percent) led super regional banks at 82; Fifth Third Bank (up 8 percent) took second place (81). Capital One, Citizens Bank, KeyBank and SunTrust Bank all came in at 80, just above the category average, and also above TD Bank (79 percent). PNC Bank was unchanged at 78, tying Regions Bank (down 1 percent), while U.S. Bank took last place at 77.

The ACSI report, based on 9,608 customer surveys collected in the third quarter of 2016, is available forfree download.