People prefer to put their money where the simplicity is. And in the U.S., consumers believe credit unions and community banks provide them with a simpler experience than a national or global bank.

The Global Brand Simplicity Index, which surveyed more than 1,000 U.S. consumers, found that less than 36% of consumers considered global and national banks to be the simplest type of bank. The majority of consumers, however, said they prefer credit unions and local banks.

U.S. consumers said they're willing to spend $3.3 billion for simpler banking experiences – money that they would pay to smaller institutions for the accessibility, safety and trust that they're not finding at global and national banks, according to the survey released Tuesday by Siegel+Gale, a New York-based global strategic branding firm.

The survey also found that consumers want personalized service from their financial institution. For simpler insurance products, services and experiences, U.S. consumers said they would pay upwards of $5.4 billion more than they already do.

U.S. consumers have again signaled a trend in the insurance and retail banking industries, describing them as too complex for the third year in a row, the survey reports. Insurance ranked the lowest of 25 industries with general insurance and health insurance coming in at #24 and #25 respectively, while banking made a better showing at #13.

Among specific U.S. bank brands, US Bank took the #1 spot of the five banks included in the 2012 U.S. Simplicity Index, moving up 33 spots from the 2011 survey and ranking 21 spots ahead of the next bank brand on the list — last year's winner in the industry, Chase.

Though Citibank moved up nine spots from the 2011 Index, it was still ranked in the bottom 25 brands at #107, along with Wells Fargo (#108) and Bank of America (#109), which dropped four and eight spots respectively in the ranking, according to the index.

Instant Insights /

The Simple Truth: Credit Unions, Local Banks Do Better on Simplicity Scale

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