ANN ARBOR, Mich.–Is the ongoing membership growth at credit unions hurting member service levels?
A new analysis suggests that could be the case. While consumer satisfaction with banks and credit unions is up overall, according to the latest American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), credit unions are feeling some strains.
According to ASCI, members still rate credit unions well on nearly every aspect of the customer experience, but some service areas have deteriorated. Credit unions edged up 1.2% to 82, slightly below the industry’s long-term average.
“As membership levels rise, call centers are showing signs of strain, down 2% to a score of 83,” the American Customer Satisfaction Index found. “Likewise, member assessment of the number and location of branches has dropped 3% to 68. Credit union members clearly crave more ATM access, as this benchmark falls 7% to 67 over the past year. Regional and community banks show similar scores for branches (66) and ATMs (69), which is not surprising given the smaller geographic imprint for these institutions.”
Bank customer satisfaction climbed 5.3% to an ACSI score of 80 on a 100-point scale. Regional and community banks lead with a combined score of 83 (+3.8%). Super regional banks gained 3.9% to 79. Although national banks ranked lowest, they also were the most improved (+6.9% 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. “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 leads among national banks with a 12% jump to an ACSI score of 82. Wells Fargo lost the top spot by improving the least, adding just 1% to 76, and is now below average as the other national banks post greater gains, the ASCI found. Bank of America (+10%) and Chase
(+6 %) at 75 are closing in on Wells Fargo.
BB&T (+6%) leads super regional banks at 82, and Fifth Third Bank (+8%) takes second place (81). Capital One, Citizens Bank, KeyBank and SunTrust Bank all come in at 80, just above the category average and TD Bank (79). PNC Bank is unchanged at 78, tying Regions Bank (-1%), with U.S. Bank in last place at 77.
The ACSI report, which is based on 9,608 customer surveys collected in the third quarter of 2016, is available for free download at http://www.theacsi.org/news-and-resources/customer-satisfaction-reports/reports-2016/acsi-finance-and-insurance-report-2016