For the fourth straight review, Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) ranked first overall in Surviscor’s Canadian Online Banking scorCard, an annual objective assessment of online features and functionality and service interaction at major Canadian banking institutions.

The big banks occupy the top five spots for the fourth straight period with Vancity awarded the best Canadian credit union for online banking services.

The top 10 ranked firms (of a total of 16 analyzed) and their scores are as follows:

1 RBC Royal Bank 75%
2 Scotiabank 74%
3 BMO Bank of Montreal 71%
4 TD Canada Trust 70%
5 CIBC 60%
6 Desjardins Bank 57%
7 Vancity 57%
8 Coast Capital Savings 54%
9 National Bank of Canada 52%
10 PC Financial 50%

“While the competition has closed the gap, RBC has retained the number one ranking by continuously enhancing the customer’s online banking experience, including industry leading performance in complementary account services and resources” said Glenn LaCoste, president of Surviscor Inc., in a release.

Surviscor’s annual study, originally launched in 2008, simulates customer usage to measure over 2,400 objective criteria within multiple service categories, each weighted according to an industry-defined level of importance. New to this year’s study was the introduction of an ‘Account Resources’ assessment category, as well as expanded service-related criteria throughout the scorCard. The design and execution of the Online Banking Review is once again powered by CorbinPartners Inc., a leading provider of business intelligence in Canada.

The online banking survey was conducted between January and February 2014.

Surviscor is now preparing its Online Discount Brokerage scorCard, with results expected this spring.

Toronto-based Surviscor provides the analysis and ranking of Canadian online services offered to retail consumers.