Resources

Banks' reputations have started to recover from the beating they took after the financial crisis, according to several recent surveys. American Banker reporters discuss how better technology has helped banks' customer satisfaction levels return to pre-crisis levels, despite ongoing reputational issues for some of the biggest banks.

Mid-size regional banks are facing the highest level of customer attrition, squeezed by better service at small banks and better distribution and scale at larger rivals, according to J.D. Power. Rocky Clancy, vice president of financial services at J.D. Power, discusses how certain regional banks, including Cullen/Frost (CFR) and Huntington (HBAN), are outperforming and setting an example for other banks' customer satisfaction levels.

There are now less than 6,900 banks in the United States, the smallest number of financial companies since the Great Depression — and bankers expect the industry to contract even more in coming years. American Banker editors discuss the stakes for community banks and why the country still needs thousands of small banks.

The National Fair Housing Alliance is accusing big banks of racial bias for neglecting homes they've foreclosed on in minority neighborhoods. Bankers deny the charges but are anxious to avoid a public fight with a nonprofit that's closely tied to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. American Banker staffers discuss.

Big banks are getting surprisingly good grades for customer satisfaction, despite lingering scandals and waves of new fees since the financial crisis, according to J.D. Power. Big banks' better technology and efforts to improve their customer service have off-set some of the reputational issues affecting them, J.D. Power executive Rocky Clancy explains.