Insights
Banking Satisfaction: What to Make of J.D. Power’s New Survey
Posted May 6, 2015 in Articles
Each year, J.D. Power, the mega-connected voice for consumer satisfaction with business and product performance, releases the results of its banking satisfaction survey.
At Mithras Investments, we are happy to help our clients consider and integrate the results of this acclaimed survey for improved engagement and performance in existing and emerging opportunities.
Known as the U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, this industry-revered survey collects, organizes and analyzes the opinions of around 80,000 customers of big, regional and mid-size banks around the country.
The study’s results are released in waves, allowing banks to measure and track performance against the study and incorporate its findings in a meaningful way. Let us know if one of our professionals can assist you in your role to include these findings in marketing, customer service, product development or other aspects of your bank.
The Good News
There’s a lot of good news in the survey for banks. Namely, many customers are happier with their bank than they have been in the past. All sizes of banks have improved customer satisfaction numbers, with the mid-sized banks doing the best at 802, the regional banks following at 791 and the big banks trailing behind a bit at 786.
The reasons for this are various. The simplest is that the economy is better overall, too. People tend to find their banks easier to deal with when the economy — and their personal finances — are improved.
The other reason is that banks actually have improved their service. Big banks saw the most improvement in the categories of fees and call center interaction, despite all sizes of banks seeing a drop in satisfaction with mobile banking and ATMs — although not surprising with fees there going up in many places.
The larger picture, though, is a positive one. When customers are feeling positive about your industry it is a good time to start leveraging opportunities.
The Opportunities
Our best bet for helping you find opportunities is to work closely with us, so that we can make recommendations and help implement ideas that are immediately relevant to your business and the consumer trends released in the survey.
By combining treetop insights and granular information about your bank, our professionals can help you make the most of this vital study. Some of the opportunities we see for banks this year include younger markets and digital drivers:
- Application-based market segments are showing more deep-dive insights than ever. New or updated products that improve mobile banking — an area where customers want improvement — is a key way to improve satisfaction and next year’s ranking.
- Virtual banking is starting to become the norm to the point that some customers never step foot in a branch anymore. Deposits, withdrawals and even loans are all managed remotely. Increased efficiency for on-the-go customers and more innovative options to create bigger offers are going to define next year’s satisfaction winners.
- Younger bank customers are looking for solutions. When Occupy and spin-off movements were popular a few years ago, many younger people had limited dealings with banks — or none at all. Seven years later, as they mature, they realize banks can help them accomplish important goals. This is a perfect opportunity to reinforce a positively changing mindset and gain lifelong loyalty.
Let’s continue the conversation and begin to innovate for your bank. Contact us to begin consulting today.
