TROY, Mich.— Online-only banks and neobanks are continuing to chip away at traditional financial institutions’ customer bases by outperforming on personalization and digital convenience, but new research from JD Power suggests those digital gains may still come with a key weakness: many still lag on service quality and resolving problems when customers need help most.
For credit unions, the findings underscore a familiar competitive opening. While digital-first challengers are gaining traction with younger and convenience-focused consumers, JD Power’s latest data suggest member loyalty may still hinge on the areas where credit unions have historically sought to differentiate—human support, trust and the ability to solve issues quickly when service breaks down.
“Online-only banking providers are really succeeding at establishing emotional connections with their customers by delivering highly personalized digital interactions, along with products and services that help them feel understood and that they are moving toward their financial goals,” said Paul McAdam, senior director of financial services intelligence at JD Power. “Within the online-only banking marketplace, however, JD Power finds that many neobanks are not performing as well as online banks when it comes to basic blocking and tackling in areas like the convenience of reaching customer service and single-contact problem resolution. While these challenger brands excel at fast funds availability and practical financial health support, their day-to-day customer service is not as strong as it needs to be.”
Following are some key findings of the 2026 study:
- Online-only banking providers deliver personalized user experience: Both online banks and neobanks perform equally well on customer perceptions of being friendly, personalized and customer-centric. Both perform well on helping customers grow their money and avoid fees, which is foundational to establishing an emotional connection with customers.
- Online banks outperform neobanks in overall satisfaction: The overall customer satisfaction score for online bank checking accounts is 674 (on a 1,000-point scale), which is 52 points higher than neobanks (622). Customer satisfaction for online bank high-yield savings accounts is 689, which is 32 points higher than neobanks (657). The gaps in performance are driven by a higher incidence of problems associated with the debit card and fraud/unauthorized activity, and with weaker satisfaction with telephone, online chat and email support.
- Significant gap between highest- and lowest-ranked online-only banking providers: The gap in overall satisfaction scores between the top-performing online banks in the study and the lowest-performing neobanks in the study is 225 points in the checking segment and 186 points in the high-yield savings segment, highlighting the widespread variation between the customer service and account management capabilities of different providers in this rapidly growing space.
Study Ranking
Charles Schwab Bank ranks highest in overall satisfaction among checking providers for an eighth consecutive year, with a score of 750. American Express (696) ranks second and Ally (690) ranks third.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs ranks highest in overall satisfaction among high-yield savings providers with a score of 739. Ally (728) ranks second and Chime (714) ranks third.