Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and Tangerine Bank, both based in Toronto, are leading the pack in their respective categories in U.S.-based research firm J.D. Power and Associates’ latest retail banking customers satisfaction survey released Thursday.
RBC’s top marks for the quality of its products; personal service or the ways in which clients interact with the bank, whether it be in person, by phone or online; communication methods; and financial advisors helped the bank nab the top spot in the “Big Five banks” category with a score of 765 out of 1,000, according to the J.D. Power report.
“The expert advice our employees provide day-in and day-out makes us proud,” says Jennifer Tory, group head of personal and commercial banking with RBC, in a statement. “This recognition is a demonstration of the strength of our team and their willingness to go the extra mile.”
TD Canada Trust was close behind among the Big Five with a score of 761; Bank of Montreal was in third place with a score of 760; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) landed in fourth with a score of 754: and Bank of Nova Scotia came right behind with a score of 753. (All four banks are based in Toronto.)
Tangerine, a wholly owned subsidiary of Scotiabank, received the highest score (840 of 1,000) in the category of “mid-size banks” for the fifth straight year. The online bank’s top ranking was helped by high ratings for its product, personal service, self-service and communication.
President’s Choice Financial, whose direct-banking services are provided by CIBC, landed in second place with a score of 789. This was followed by Montreal-based National Bank of Canada (767), Edmonton-based Alberta Treasury Branches (766), Montreal-based Laurentian Bank of Canada (757) and Vancouver-based HSBC Bank Canada, which rounded out the list with a score of 756.
The J.D. Power report notes that overall satisfaction with Canadian retail banks has improved over 2015, when clients were feeling the sting of new higher fees introduced that year and in 2014. The overall satisfaction with the Big Five banks segment is an average of 760 in 2016, up from 737 in 2015, while the overall average satisfaction rating for the mid-size banks jumped to 783 from 759 year-over-year.
“The improvements indicate that customers are becoming less sensitive to new pricing structures, which caused satisfaction to tumble in 2015,” says Paul McAdam, senior director of banking services with J.D. Power, in a statement. “The banks are doing a better job communicating with their customers, who now are seeing the value they are getting in return for higher fees.”
This study is based on responses from more than 13,000 customers who use a primary financial services institution for personal banking. The study includes the largest financial services institutions in Canada and data were gathered between April and May.
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