By: Ken Chase.
J.D. Power has released several studies that show that customer satisfaction with banking and credit card digital services has declined, even as demand for those services has steadily increased. In a press release announcing the findings, J.D. Power noted that customer expectations for personalized digital services have increased as the economic climate has created new financial challenges and stresses.
J.D. Powersenior consultant for banking and payment intelligence Jennifer Whitesuggested that the decline in satisfaction is largely due to bank and credit card companies’ failure to provide the personalized experience their customers want from their digital apps and financial website portals:
“We’re seeing a lot of volatility in customer satisfaction scores in the digital banking and credit card space driven by a combination of heightened customer expectations for what a digital experience should look like. Based on their experiences with other consumer apps and websites that anticipate their needs and offer a highly personalized customer experience, bank and credit card customers are expecting more from their digital solutions. The tough economic climate has amped up the urgency of those expectations.”
The2022 studies, which measure user satisfaction with banks and credit card companies’ digital services, include the J.D. Power U.S. Banking Mobile App Satisfaction Study, the U.S. Credit Card Mobile App Satisfaction Study, theU.S. Online Credit Card Satisfaction Study, and the U.S. Online Banking Satisfaction Study. Together, these studies relied on more than 16,000 customer responses from users across the U.S., gathered between February and April 2022.
The studies revealed a decline in satisfaction for the mobile app services provided by national banks, regional banks, and credit card providers. In addition, customers also expressed less satisfaction with credit card online portals and regional bank websites. Meanwhile, national banks experienced a very slight increase in customer satisfaction with their website offerings.
The press release highlighted the need for greater personalization in digital services, noting that the percentage of retail customers who say that they have a personalized relationship with their banking service provider is 20 points higher for those who physically visit their bank branch. 73 percent of those customers said that they enjoy that type of personal relationship with their bank, as opposed to only 53 percent of customers who rely mainly on their banks’ online and mobile app channels.
The decline in customer satisfaction is particularly high for customers who are defined as “financially vulnerable” – a segment of the customer base that has grown from 25 percent to 32 percent in less than a year. According to the studies, those customers’ satisfaction scores are significantly lower than those reported by financially healthy clients – on average, 113 points lower on a 1,000-point satisfaction scale.
The studies did point to areas of concern that banks and credit card providers can focus on to improve customer satisfaction with their digital services. For example, customers who utilize online and mobile app budgeting and spending tools report higher levels of satisfaction. The challenge for credit card companies and banks is to find ways to increase customer engagement with those types of financial tools.
According to the release’s bank and credit card company satisfaction rankings, no provider scored above 900 on the 1,000-point scale. Capital One scored highest for national bank online banking and mobile app satisfaction with scores of 861 and 868, respectively. For regional banks, Huntington topped the list for mobile apps with a score of 868, while Regions Bank’s 880 score netted it the highest online banking rank. Discover topped the list for highest credit card satisfaction with both its mobile app and online offerings.
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