NEW YORK–Forbes has published its annual rankings of the Best In-State Banks and Credit Unions in the United States, with its top overall score going to a Michigan-based CU and consumers overall ranking CUs ahead of banks.
Forbes partnered with market research firm Statista to survey nearly 25,000 people in the U.S. about their banking relationships, with consumers asked 20 questions about their financial dealings. According to Forbes, the banks and credit unions were rated on overall recommendations and satisfaction, as well as five subdimensions (trust, terms and conditions, branch services, digital services and financial advice). Overall scores ranged from 74.8 to 95.6. Only 2.6% of all banks and 3.5% of all credit unions made the Forbes list.
National financial institutions with branches in at least 15 states were excluded from the final rankings, which ruled out Navy Federal, as well as Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase Bank, Citigroup PNC Financial, U.S. Bank, Truist Financial, and Wells Fargo.
Between one and five banks and up to 10 credit unions in larger states were awarded best-in-state designation, based on the number of responses in each state, according to Forbes. Overall, 182 credit unions and 135 banks qualified. “Americans generally gave their banking institutions good reviews on satisfaction with scores of 4.2 on average on a scale of one to five,” Forbes said. “But banks can’t touch credit unions; they averaged 4.5.”
The Top Credit Union
The credit union with the top score overall (96.2) in the Forbes rankings is Frankenmuth Credit Union.
“Based in Frankenmuth, Mich. and headed by Vickie Schmitzer, a 40-year veteran of the credit union who’s been CEO since 2000, the lender was founded in 1964 by employees of the Carling Brewery of Frankenmuth,” Forbes said. “Now with nearly 52,000 members in 22 communities, the credit union has nearly $855 million in assets and $621.2 million in loans.”
Five credit unions qualified as best-in-state in multiple locales, according to Forbes, including Utah-based Mountain America Credit Union, which finished in the top five in Arizona, Idaho and Utah, where it ranked first. San Antonio-based Security Service FCU placed third in Colorado and first in Texas. SRP Federal Credit Union placed fourth in Georgia and first in South Carolina, while America First Credit Union placed second in Nevada and Utah, and BCU placed first in Illinois and fifth in Minnesota in the Forbes rankings.
Bank Rankings
Capital One was the best-performing bank across multiple states. The McLean, Va.-based bank, which has $396 billion in assets, graded very well in six states, including first in the District of Columbia, second in Virginia and third in Louisiana, Forbes said.
BBVA placed first in multiple states, finishing as the top-ranked bank in Arizona and Florida, and ranked in the top five in California and New Mexico. Huntington Bank placed first in Michigan and Pennsylvania and in the top-five in Indiana and Ohio.
BancorpSouth Bank and Columbia Bank were the only other banks to be named best bank in multiple states. BancorpSouth topped the list in Tennessee and Texas, while Columbia Bank topped our list in Oregon and Washington, Forbes said.
The top-scoring bank overall was Philadelphia-based Republic Bank, which was rated 95 and the top scoring bank in the state of New Jersey.
The full Forbes ranking can be found here.