WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - Customer dissatisfaction with their retail banks has declined, according to a new study.
The J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Retail Banking Satisfaction Study found bank customers unhappy due to issues with problem resolution, new and additional fees and long wait times. Customers’ overall satisfaction fell 26 index points on a 1,000-point scale to 737 from the same time one year earlier in a similar study.
The study does not include credit unions.
J.D. Power reported the most common area of dissatisfaction is with fees, which were ranked by those surveyed as the second-most cited reason for leaving a bank. Customers also complained of an increased number of problems, increased time required to have those same problems resolved, and difficulty in easily accessing branches.
“Many retail banks are experiencing a decline in their brand image, especially in the current economic climate, where many consumers hold banks responsible for the current housing and mortgage crisis,” said Rockwell Clancy, executive, in a released statement.
J.D. Power said that those banks that do have higher levels of satisfaction also have more “committed customers.” Increasing the number of such committed customers by 5% can lead to incremental deposit growth of 3% annually, the company said.
The survey was conducted with 19,602 households on six factors: transactions, account statements, account initiation/product offerings, convenience, fees and problem resolution.
