Credit unions are among the most forgivable companies in America, according to new research from research, consulting and training firm Temkin Group.

One credit union in particular — Vienna, Va.-based Navy Federal Credit Union — is especially forgivable, ranking fifth out of over 300 other companies and besting well-known organizations such as Buick, Wegmans, QVC, Trader Joe's and others. USAA, ACE Rent A Car, Advantage Rent-A-Car and Wawa Food Markets topped the list.

Navy Federal Credit Union has $91 billion in assets and about 7.5 million members.

Temkin Group's 2018 forgiveness ratings, which evaluated feedback from 10,000 U.S. consumers about 318 companies across 20 industries, showed that credit unions as a whole ranked 20th this year, with a 56% total forgiveness rating.

Consumers were least likely to forgive Comcast, Motel 6, Optimum, Charter Spectrum, Cox Communications, Citibank, Cigna, Pacific Gas & Electric, DirecTV and Anthem. Overall, Comcast came in last on the list with an 11% rating.

“Every organization makes mistakes, so forgiveness is a critical element of loyalty,” Temkin Group Managing Partner Bruce Temkin explained. “TV and Internet service providers continue to do little to earn consumers' forgiveness.”

Temkin Group said it calculated the ratings by asking consumers how likely they would be, on a scale of 1 to 7, to forgive a particular company if it made a mistake. It then subtracted the percentage of consumers who gave a rating of 1, 2 or 3 (less likely to forgive) from the percentage who gave a rating of 6 or 7 (more likely to forgive).

Within the banking industry, USAA was at the top of the list, with a 73% total forgiveness rating. Citibank was last, with a 20% rating. USAA was also at the top of the credit card issuers industry, but Wells Fargo ranked last there, with a 26% total forgiveness rating.

Credit unions in general appear to have generally stayed in consumers' good graces over time. After the industry's total forgiveness ratings dropped from 52% to 45% between 2015 and 2016, its ratings rose to 49% in 2017 and 56% in 2018, according to Temkin Group's data.

However, consumers as a whole appear to have become less forgiving over the past year, according to the data.

Between 2017 and 2018, for example, 14 of the 20 industries in the report saw declines in their average total forgiveness ratings. Wireless companies and grocery stores improved the most (both rose by a little more than two percentage points), but utilities and hotels dropped the most (around four to five percentage points), the company reported.

“Of the 308 companies that were in both the 2017 and 2018 [total forgiveness ratings], 272 companies experienced a drop in their scores. The five companies to improve the most are Starz, MetroPCS, Fifth Third, Domino's, and Dairy Queen. The five companies to decline the most are Bosch, Appalachian Power Company, HSBC, AmazonFresh, and Motel 6,” it noted.

Instant Insights /

Credit Unions Among Most 'Forgivable' American Businesses

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