CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — When it comes to delivery of services and customer service, consumers continue to put a premium on credit unions' ability to consistently follow through, according to a new study from Forrester Research.
The research firm asked consumers to rate their primary bank, investment firm, and insurer in two categories: value delivered and service provided. In its report, "Consumers Rate Their Financial Institutions; Value And Service Ratings For 30 Banks, Investment Firms, And Insurers," Forrester analyzed the ratings for 30 different financial institutions using the following criteria:
o meets all of my financial needs;
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o offers the best rates on its products;
o frequently offers improved products and services;
o regularly helps me make better financial decisions;
o provides excellent customer service;
o fully protects the privacy of my personal information;
o alerts me if there are issues with my account; and
o makes it easy to compare rates and fees.
Forrester's analysis looked at firms' net positive percentage–the percentage of positive feedback minus the percentage of negative feedback–for each criterion. By comparing each firm's net positive percentage with the mean across all respondents, it assigned scores that range from negative two (significantly below average) to positive two (significantly above average).
Credit unions, investment giant Edward Jones and insurance provider USAA were at the top of the list in both value delivered and service provided. Led by credit unions (69%), six institutions had scores that were significantly higher than the average net positive rating of 47% for meeting consumers' financial needs. Merrill Lynch received the lowest net positive score (21%) for this criteria, which was 7% lower than Travelers, the next-to-lowest firm on the list.
Credit unions also received high marks for "excellent" customer service, leading the pack at 88% followed by GEICO at 84% and Ameriprise Financial at 83%, according to Bruce Temkin, who authored the report along with Eric Dolan and Peter Hult.
When it came to offering the best rates and making it easier to compare rates, USAA topped the list. Ameriprise Financial scored highest for frequently improving its products and helping consumers make better financial decisions. American Family earned the highest mark for proactively alerting consumers when there is an issue. Edward Jones was the frontrunner for protecting the privacy of personal information. –[email protected]
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