ARBOR, Mich.– Customer satisfaction with banks is down as fees reach new heights, according to a report released today by the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
ACSI said that decline reverses two years of ACSI improvement for retail banks. Credit unions, however, continue to rank best among financial services with an ACSI score of 85 on a 100-point scale – the second-highest of 43 industries in the Index.
“A growing number of consumers are finding that the best way to avoid bank fees may be to avoid banks altogether,” said Claes Fornell, ACSI Chairman and founder. “Credit union membership growth broke records in 2014, and their (members) are far more satisfied…Banks can’t easily give up the revenue that fees generate, but clearly the pressure is on to improve service.”
The ACSI Finance and Insurance Report 2014 covers customer satisfaction with banks, health insurance, property and casualty insurance, life insurance, credit unions and online brokerage. Among the findings:
- Customer satisfaction with banks slumps 2.6% to an ACSI score of 76. Smaller banks declined the most, down 4% to 80. Although many small banks have begun resorting to revenue-generating fees, they remain far ahead of big banks in terms of better customer service and lower costs, ACSI said.
- Among the four largest banks, JPMorgan Chase (-3%) now ties with Citigroup (unchanged) at 74, while Wells Fargo is steady at 72. Meanwhile, Bank of America maintains its highest score since 2008 (69), but lags behind as the only big bank yet to return to pre-recession levels of customer satisfaction, ACSI said.
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