Quality of Customers Service Much More Important to Online Bankers
According to comScore’s recent “State of Online Banking Report,” customer service for online banking is getting a lot more attention in 2010 than it was last year.
The report was based on a survey of 2,576 U.S. Internet users and behavioral data from an online consumer panel, which is made up of 1 million people.
When it came to satisfaction with their primary financial institution, 70 percent of the respondents polled said they were satisfied with their primary bank. This reflected a slight decline from 71 percent in 2009, and a slightly bigger decline from 72 percent in 2008.
Meanwhile, 64 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with their brokerage firm, a significant improvement from 58 percent in 2009, but still short of 2008’s 70 percent mark.
Credit card companies, however, couldn’t say the same, as just 60 percent of respondents said they were satisfied with them, down from 62 percent in 2009 and down further from 65 percent in 2008.
“As economic conditions begin to improve, it will be important for banks and other financial institutions to focus intently on improving customer satisfaction and brand loyalty in order to retain and grow market share,” said Marc Trudeau, senior director of comScore. “Those who are effective in doing so will be in the best position to take advantage of new opportunities in the market as the economy returns to form.”
The top five most important attributes for opening a new checking/savings account were:
– Free checking (67 percent)
– Low minimum balance (37 percent)
– Proximity of Branches/ATMs (36 percent)
– Bill Pay (24 percent)
– Quality of Customer Service (22 percent)
The only one of these attributes that saw the biggest boosts was “Quality of Customers Service.” Last year, the rankings looked like this:
– Free checking (70 percent)
– Low minimum balance (38 percent)
– Proximity of Branches/ATMs (40 percent)
– Bill Pay (23 percent)
– Quality of Customer Service (4 percent)
The survey also found that just 64 percent of respondents use an online bill pay tool, up from 45 percent in 2009. Also, 52 percent use automatic/recurring bill pay, up from 42 percent last year.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents are enrolled in paperless statements, up from 53 percent in 2009.
Source:
