LAKE BLUFF, Ill. Banks outperform credit unions with their call centers, according to a new survey released by Moebs $ervices.
It should be noted, however, that the study examined institutions of more than $500 million in assets and was limited to those with call centers, which eliminates many credit unions. The study is not an analysis of hold times when the credit union itself is contacted.
Bank call centers performed the best with no hold time 56.1% of the time, while credit unions came in at 43.8% with no hold time. Credit unions had more than double the median hold time, 90 seconds, compared to banks at 42 seconds, the study found.
Financial call centers answer their phones on the first ring 53.1% of the time. When they do not answer on the first ring, the median hold time is 60 seconds well within the range of “good service” standards. “If you do wait when you call an FI, you do not wait long,” said Michael Moebs, CEO of Moebs $ervices.
“53.1% of the time there was no hold time and many times a call center representative answered before the first ring of the phone,” Moebs said.
When a call was put on hold 46.9% of the time more than one-third of the time it was for less than 30 seconds. Hold times then started to increase, with 4.3% of callers held for more than 5 minutes. The champion hold time was exactly one hour at one financial institution.
The survey of hold times was done in June 2013 and included only those 1,676 institutions $500 million in assets or larger. Those smaller in asset size often do not have a call center or have very limited capability. Beginning June 7 and continuing through June 18, each FI’s call center was contacted by Moebs. Calls were done randomly from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The survey period included two Fridays, two Mondays and two Tuesdays.
Asset size does matter, Moebs said. When average hold times are compared by asset size, the smaller asset size FIs have substantially fewer callers with hold time 44.1% compared to larger depositories, especially those $25B to $50B, who have 64.3% of their callers with wait time.
As important, the wait time at smaller institutions is 111.9s vs. 191.5s for the biggest FIs over $50B.
