Customer satisfaction remains high at US community banks and is improving at some of the countrys largest retail banks, but has fallen sharply in the past year at credit unions, according to the widely watched 2010 American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI).
The annual survey, published by the University of Michigans Ross School of Business on 14 December, reported that Wells Fargo remains top for customer satisfaction of the countrys largest retail banks.
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Customer satisfaction rates have increased at Citibank and Bank of America but have fallen at Chase, for the fourth successive year.
The scores cover customer satisfaction with current accounts, savings and personal loan products and bank services.
For the banking industry as a whole, satisfaction improved by 1.3%, to an ACSI score of 76 on a 0-100 scale.
But small gains for retail banking and life insurance were more than offset by weakening customer satisfaction in health insurance.
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By GlobalDataAlthough retail banking fees have risen in the last year, the report found that consumers seem to be taking the increased costs in their stride by finding ways to avoid them. Online banking, better monitoring of minimum balances, and careful use of ATMs are examples of customer strategies to avoid or minimise fees.
Claes Fornell, the Donald C Cook Professor of Business Administration at Michigans business school said: "Still, retail banking has not returned to the ACSI levels achieved prior to the banking crisis, which affected not only mortgages, but had negative implications for retail banking overall."
Wells Fargo ranked top of the countrys largest retail banks for the second successive year, with an index score of 73 unchanged from its 2009 figure. Citibank with a score of 69 and Bank of America (68) each gained while Chase trailed in fourth place of the countrys largest retail bank by assets, with 67.
The collective score of banks outside the top four was 80, highlighting the strength of the countrys community banks.
Credit unions also scored 80, down 4 points from a year ago. The report found that service for credit unions has deteriorated and fees have increased.
Fornell added: "The difficulty of managing rapid growth is partly to blame, as regulators have allowed credit unions to expand offerings to include more mortgage and investment banking activity.
"Losses by several individual credit unions, plus financial difficulties for many of the corporate credit unions that supply vital services to the smaller credit unions, have taken a toll.
"Since credit unions cant raise capital by selling stock, the only recourse to recover losses is through cost-cutting, which usually leads to reduced customer service, or raising fees, which leads to higher customer cost. Nevertheless, credit unions offering significantly higher levels of customer satisfaction for a fairly wide range of services remain a viable alternative to large banks."
