18 Feb 2010

ACSI just published results of the customer satisfaction survey.  Wells/Wachovia is #1.. keeping them in the spot for last 5 years (job well done guys).

Wells Fargo has emerged from its acquisition of Wachovia stronger in terms of customer service, rising slightly by 1% to an ACSI score of 73, which is the top score among measured banks in 2009. Wells Fargo seems to have benefitted from Wachovia’s legacy of strong customer satisfaction; for many years, Wachovia was the industry leader. By contrast, JPMorgan Chase has not performed nearly as well following its acquisition of Washington Mutual. The subsequent reorganization has been slow, and many Washington Mutual branches were still not rebranded as of the fourth quarter of 2009. Customer satisfaction with the new, larger JPMorgan Chase dropped sharply by 7% to an ACSI score of 68. To some extent, the story is the same for Bank of America. Its acquisition of Merrill Lynch made it the world’s largest financial services company, but massive losses have led to layoffs and substantial cost-cutting. Bank of America’s ACSI score dropped even further than JPMorgan Chase, tumbling 8% to an industry low of 67.

In addition to ACSI’s overall customer satisfaction report (all bank services) Change Sciences also released a new report this week ranking online banks by “online experience”, in this report Ally bank is ranked #1. The sites usability is just fantastic.. and sets a new bar for the big guys to follow.  Ally (was GMAC) is based in Charlotte and run by the former BAC internet management team. They were able to take the best and brightest from both BAC and Wachovia and have assembled a “dream team” of designers that have taken their game to a new level..  Congrats guys!