In Reputation Ranking, Some Banks Break from the Pack

Public perceptions of bank brands remain a long way from rosy, but they are becoming more nuanced.

The 30 banks included in American Banker's second annual survey of bank reputation, conducted by the Reputation Institute, scored higher with consumers on average, and with a much wider distribution, than last year. The results suggest that reputation, in recent years an albatross for the financial sector as a whole, is starting to look more like a point of differentiation, with several large institutions able to break away from the pack more convincingly as they moved to the top of the ranking.

The two strongest performers, Harris Bank and Zions Bank, both garnered scores above 70 on a 100-point scale. Last year, no bank broke the 70-point barrier, which the Reputation Institute, a brand consultancy, considers the dividing line between average and strong reputations. The highest score in the 2010 survey was 68.1, for New York Community.

A change in American Banker's size-based criteria for inclusion made New York Community ineligible for this year's survey, and thus unable to defend its title. But at least half of the David-and-Goliath theme that emerged last year continued into 2011, with Bank of America, Chase, Citibank and Wells Fargo taking four of the bottom six slots.

Identifying the Davids got tougher, though. All of the banks on the list are sizable, as part of holding companies that are among the 40 largest by assets or deposits, and none of the brands on this year's list benefited from whatever halo effect New York Community might have enjoyed last year just for having the word "community" in its name.

The banks rounding out the top 10 represented a mix of styles and business models. A good showing by three survey newcomers, Charles Schwab, ING Direct and E-Trade, indicates that deposit-taking brokerages have a reputational edge over the average traditional bank. Ally Bank, last year's No. 2, slipped to the No. 4 spot, but its baseline score improved more than 2 points, suggesting that the online-only model still has momentum.

M&I Bank, which is in the process of being acquired by Harris Bank's parent, BMO Financial Group, also figured into the top 10, as did Bank of the West, BB&T and BBVA Compass, which moved up 11 slots from last year to the No. 5 position, the biggest jump of any bank on the list.

Shelaghmichael Brown, head of retail banking at BBVA Compass, attributed the improvement to several new initiatives, including customer service changes, a stronger social media presence and a range of corporate responsibility projects involving nonprofits, particularly in the area of financial literacy. She also noted the direct involvement of the chief executive of Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, the Spanish institution that acquired Compass Bancshares in 2007, in the management and monitoring of the bank's reputation.

"Everything about you has to reflect your view of who you are, in the community and to the community," Brown said.

According to the Reputation Institute, consumers evaluate brand reputations based on seven major components: corporate citizenship, financial performance, governance, innovation, leadership, perceived workplace environment and products and services.

The weightings that consumers assign to the different facets of reputation have changed drastically in recent years. "A decade ago, the concept of corporate governance [was] not even on people's radar. Citizenship? Barely. Now, all seven matter," said Anthony Johndrow, a managing partner in the Reputation Institute's New York office.

Of course, some matter more than others. Last year the biggest determining factor for banks was governance, based on a regression analysis of the results. But respondents this year put less emphasis on that and more emphasis on performance — or at least their perception of it — in formulating their opinions about banks.