NEW YORK–A new survey of consumers has found none-too-surprisingly that consumers are rating “financial stability” as their top priority when selecting a financial institution.
The survey, conducted by New York brand strategy firm Lippincott, suggests smaller institutions, including community banks and credit unions, may benefit from the swing in consumer concerns.
Steven Reider, the president of Bancography, a banking consulting firm in Birmingham, Ala., agreed.
"Stability has certainly increased in importance," he said. "We have seen some large names leave the industry in a way that many would have never predicted a year ago. These are times of seismic shifts, and the question is, Is my bank going to be around?"
Michael D'Esopo, senior partner at Lippincott a and co-author of the survey, which was released last week, said "there is a real skepticism in the marketplace" toward larger institutions. "This is a real opportunity from the community banking standpoint to bring on some of these customers."
Among Lippincott's "general audience" of 703 people polled, community banks and credit unions scored 5.5 on a 7-point favorability scale. National banks followed at 4.9, regional banks ranked at 4.5, and independent financial advisers and brokerage firms were at 4.2. Those rankings were similar for both a high-net-worth subset, as well as for small-business owners.
