Thursday, April 19, 2012

Customers still hate fees, but like their branches, ATMs

Though people definitely aren't happy with bank fees, they like their branches and ATMs, according to a new study released Thursday by J.D. Power and Associates.


Overall, customers are slightly more happy with their banks than they were a year ago.

The firm's overall bank customer satisfaction index increased one point on a 1,000-point scale this year, to 753.

Happiness with fees took the biggest hit, J.D. Power said, particularly monthly maintenance fees. ATM and debit card fees aren't popular, but they weren't as big a drag on the results.

“The negative reaction to fees reflects customers’ irritation about paying for something they didn’t have to pay for in the past,” director of banking services Michael Beird said in a statement. “It also reflects a lack of their complete understanding about what they’re getting for those fees.”

Banks have been able to counteract the effect of fees, at least in this survey, by making their branches and ATMs more pleasant.

Customers are more attracted to branch and ATM locations, appearance and hours of operation, J.D. Power said. More than three-quarters of people are now greeted upon entering a branch, and ATMs are viewed as more reliable and user friendly.

The survey is based on 52,000 interviews with bank customers in January and February.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

Agreed. I don't go to a branch often... but the lack of branches and ATM's has stopped me from going to a bank such as Ally.

Anonymous said...

There's no way to get absolutely everything you want in one bank. The big banks - all of them, not just BofA - don't really care about you unless you have $100K in accounts with them, but the better service of the small banks comes at the cost of only having a handful of outlets.

As for the account maintenance fees, there are always ways around them, some as simple as having a direct deposit once a month.

To this point, BofA hasn't treated me badly enough to make me want to sacrifice the ease of getting to one of their ATMs. It's all in what matters most to you.

Garth Vader said...

Let's see if the Moynihan Muppets at the Observer dig into this one:

When the Bank of America was founded back in 1904, no one ever thought that it would one day truly be the Bank of America. As in (partially) government owned. Just like Government Motors, Chrysler, the entire student loan industry and more, the federal government’s insatiable grasping tentacles are woven throughout one of the world’s largest commercial bank and brokerage operations. And as has always been true, if you take the king’s shilling, you’re damned well going to do his bidding. The folks at McMillan found out recently that means some kinds of business are no longer wanted . . .

From McMillan’s Facebook page via reddit:

Today Mr. Ray Fox, Senior Vice President, Marlet Manager, Business Banking, Global Commercial Banking came to my office. He scheduled the meeting as an “account analysis” meeting in order to evaluate the two lines of credit we have with them. He spent 5 minutes talking about how McMillan has changed in the last 5 years and have become more of a firearms manufacturer than a supplier of accessories.

At this point I interrupted him and asked “Can I possibly save you some time so that you don’t waste your breath? What you are going to tell me is that because we are in the firearms manufacturing business you no longer want my business.”

“That is correct” he says.

I replied “That is okay, we will move our accounts as soon as possible. We can find a 2nd Amendment friendly bank that will be glad to have our business. You won’t mind if I tell the NRA, SCI and everyone one I know that BofA is not firearms industry friendly?”

“You have to do what you must” he said.

“So you are telling me this is a politically motivated decision, is that right?”

Mr Fox confirmed that it was. At which point I told him that the meeting was over and there was nothing left for him to say.

I think it is import for all Americans who believe in and support our 2nd amendment right to keep and bare arms should know when a business does not support these rights. What you do with that knowledge is up to you. When I don’t agree with a business’ political position I can not in good conscience support them. We will soon no longer be accepting Bank of America credit cards as payment for our products.

Kelly D. McMillan
Director of Operations
McMillan Group International, LLC
623-582-9635
1638 W Knudsen Dr
Phoenix, Arizona 85027
McMillan Integrity-Global Vision
www.mcmillanusa.com