TROY, Mich.–Personalized financial advice has emerged as the key to a “meaningful” bank customer experience, according to a new J.D. Power survey.
In fact, according to the new J.D. Power 2024 U.S. Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study, released today, financial advice is resonating more than ever with retail bank customers, but only 42% of them indicate recalling that their bank provides guidance and, of those who do receive guidance, more than three-fourths (76%) act on it, J.D. Power said in releasing its findings.
‘Increased Satisfaction’
“Customers who act on the financial advice and guidance provided by their bank are getting not only help on how to save time or money, but also these services result in increased satisfaction and strong engagement and brand advocacy,” Jennifer White, senior director for banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “As banks get increasingly savvy about how to personalize content by leveraging AI and training their staffs on how best to connect with customers, both recall and usage of financial advice is increasing, which is a very positive step forward for the industry.”
The Key Findings
According to J.D, Power, key findings in the 2024 study include:
- Recall of financial advice among younger customers far exceeds the industry average. “Overall, 42% of retail bank customers recall receiving financial advice from their bank. Among customers under the age of 40, the average recall rate for financial advice jumps to 60%.”
- The majority of bank customers act on advice. “A vast majority (76%) of customers who receive financial advice take action. Most frequent actions taken in response to advice include updating account settings (25%), shifting money between accounts (22%) and downloading the bank’s mobile app (22%).”
- There is a big bump in satisfaction when customers take action. “Overall satisfaction with retail banking advice increases 163 points (on a 1,000-point scale) when customers act based on specific advice provided by their bank.”
- Many banks still miss the mark on consistent personalization. “One key variable with a significant effect on satisfaction is ‘received personalized banking advice/guidance.’ When this criterion is met, overall satisfaction increases 195 points and banks are moderately successful at achieving this goal with 63% receiving personalized content.”
Study Rankings
J.D. Power reported its survey found Citi ranks highest in customer satisfaction with retail banking advice with a score of 631. Bank of America (624) ranks second and Chase (621) ranks third.
J.D. Power said the U.S. Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study was redesigned for 2024. It includes responses of 7,984 retail bank customers in the United States who received any advice/guidance from their primary bank regarding relevant products and services or other financial needs in the past 12 months. It measures customer satisfaction with retail bank advice/guidance based on performance in five core dimensions on a poor-to-perfect rating scale. Individual dimensions measured are (in order of importance): quality, concern for needs, relevancy, clarity and frequency.
The study was fielded from January to March 2024.
Other Benchmarks
In addition to bank financial advice ratings, J.D. Power said the study also provides financial health support index benchmarking data that evaluates proficiency of banks and credit card issuers in delivering financial support to customers including such services as helping customers make better financial decisions or helping them meet savings, creditworthiness or budgeting goals.
The study also captures responses from customers about their satisfaction with the financial health support provided by their financial partners.
Other Top Performers
Top-performing banks in the banking financial health support index are (in alphabetical order): Bank of America, Chase, Capital One, Fifth Third Bank, First Citizens Bank, Huntington, KeyBank and Regions Bank.
Top-performing credit card providers in the credit card financial support index are (in alphabetical order): American Express, Bank of America, Chase and Discover.
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