TD Canada Trust has ranked first in overall client satisfaction for the ninth year in a row among the Big Five banks in J.D. Power’s 2014 Canadian Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction Study. Both companies are based in Toronto.
According to the study, released on Tuesday, TD received a score of 763 out of 1,000. The survey ranks customer satisfaction with retail banks in three segments: Big Five banks, midsize banks and credit unions.
The remaining rankings for the Big Five segment of the survey are as follows: Royal Bank of Canada, 752; Bank of Montreal, 744; Bank of Nova Scotia, 738; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), 735. All banks are headquartered in Toronto. The average score for the Big Five segment is 749.
In the midsize bank segment, Tangerine came in first with a score of 836, followed by President’s Choice Financial (both with headquarters in Toronto) with 782 and Waterloo-based Manulife Bank of Canada with a score of 771. The average score for the midsize bank segment is 766.
The study ranks customer satisfaction with the three banking segments on seven factors: products, personal service, self-service, facilities, communication, financial advisors and problem resolution.
Communication in particular proved to be an important ranking for customer satisfaction, according to J.D. Power, as results found that banks that communicate clearly regarding their products and services drastically reduced problems. For example, checking account issues with customers who say they “completely” understand their fees (11%) is significantly lower than amongst customers who say they do not understand their fees at all (18%).
Additional findings from the survey include:
• Customer satisfaction with products—including chequing accounts, savings accounts, credit cards and loans customers have with their primary bank—determines 26% of overall satisfaction.
• Customer satisfaction with personal service—in-person and contact centre representatives, both on the phone and through email and online chat—determines 19% of overall satisfaction, which is the same percentage as self-service—ABM, mobile banking, online and automated phone systems.
• Customers continue to value the convenience of branches and ABMs, as facility determines 16% of overall satisfaction scores.
• Communication determines 12% of overall satisfaction. Effective communication with customers helps drive better understanding and can increase overall satisfaction.
• Financial advisors and problem resolution determine the remaining 8% of overall satisfaction (5% and 3%, respectively).
The 2014 Canadian Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from more than 17,000 customers who use a primary financial institution for personal banking. The study includes the largest financial institutions—banks and credit unions[1]—in Canada and was fielded May 2014 through June 2014