Bank customers happy, survey suggests

Turbulent economic times don't seem to have affected consumers' perceptions of their banking relationships, a report by J.D. Power and Associates says.

Instead, customer satisfaction with the retail banking industry is high, according to the company's 2009 Canadian Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction Study released Thursday.

That runs counter to what's happening in the U.S., where customer satisfaction with banks has been in a decline for the past two years.

"Among retail bank customers in Canada, satisfaction, loyalty and commitment to their primary financial institutions have remained largely unaffected during these volatile times," said Lubo Li, senior director of research at J.D. Power, in a release.

The study finds that financial institutions received a grade of 747 out of 1,000 — a three-point increase over last year. A high degree of convenience and speed were singled out by respondents.

TD Canada Trust got the highest customer service score of the top five Canadian banks, with a grade of 759 according to the study. It was followed by Scotiabank with a score of 739 and RBC Royal Bank with 737.

President's Choice scored highest in the mid-size banks category, with a score of 806.

Li says customers are looking for customized financial products, and it's key for banks to develop relationships with their clients to be able to guide them in selecting these products.

"It is particularly important for banks to leverage the relative strengths of each channel. By doing so, banks may build their reputation for providing the right products at the right times in the ways that best suit their customers," he said.

Online banking is growing in popularity, with 64 per cent of respondents indicating they prefer to bank online, up from 58 per cent in 2007, according to the findings.

The study, which examines customer satisfaction with the five biggest retail banks, as well as mid-size banks, is in its fourth year. It is based on the responses of 12,555 customers and was conducted online with pre-selected, randomly chosen respondents in March and June of this year.

The results are considered accurate within one percentage point 19 times out of 20.