America's 7 Least-Trusted Banks: Is Yours On The List? (PHOTOS)

According to a new report out this week, customers are much less likely to trust big banks than credit unions and regional banks.

In its annual customer advocacy rankings, Forrester Research, the Cambridge-based research firm, asked 4,500 customers at 50 banks if they agreed with the statement "My financial provider does what's best for me, not just its own bottom line."

Forrester ranked the financial institutions based on consumers' responses, and the nation's largest banks were overwhelmingly the worst performers, with only around a third or fewer of customers at big banks saying that they believed their financial institution put customers' interests first. By contrast, about 70 percent of credit union customers responded positively to the statement.

Bill Doyle, a Forrester VP, told the NYT that the pattern of distrust toward the mega banks is nothing new. In the seven years the company has been conducting the survey, he said, big banks have repeatedly landed at the bottom of the list:

"Part of it is that the banks are preoccupied with their bottom line. They are public institutions who are in business to make money for their shareholder and inevitably, that shows to customers," Mr. Doyle said.

Check out the seven least-trusted banks in America, according to Forrester:

#7 Bank of America

Bank of America ranked seventh worst, with 33 percent of customer respondents agreeing that the bank “does what’s best for me, not just its own bottom line.”

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Comments

[AnswerToJob]

08:47 AM on 02/09/2010

Chase is by far the worst bank with 13 class action suits filed for predatory lending, interest rate and
fee abuses. They arbitrarily (not related to credit rating or pymt history) raised the minimum payments
on 1 million of their best customers because they COULD.

Much more here. http://www.bloggersagainstchasebank.blogspot.com/

Friends don't let Friends use Chase Bank :)

Ok to Post/Repost

[2centsplain]

11:03 AM on 02/08/2010

Ok, so the question persists; why aren't the customers of these banks leaving in droves? It isn't that there is no option to staying with them? Are we lazy, stupid or what?

[knowhelpnow]

11:20 AM on 02/08/2010

All of the above plus we don't think it makes any difference, really don't you think it was hard to choose which was the worst.

[uhappytoo]

01:25 PM on 02/08/2010

Anyone who believes a bank would choose any option other than its own survival is foolish. Our choice is only which bank best meets our expectations. And that was not the question in the survey.

[SwingingFromCenter]

02:38 AM on 02/08/2010

The credit unions finally figured something worthwhile out. The big issue with them has always been that since they're regional, finding one of their ATM's when you're traveling is impossible, thus resulting in a lot of ATM fees.

Somewhere over the last couple/few years, they finally all banded together, and now if you're part of a lot of credit unions, you have access to something like 37,000 ATM's nationwide, so no fees if you pull cash out from a credit union in New York if your credit union is only in Washington.

[SwingingFromCenter]

02:33 AM on 02/08/2010

I find it hard to consider any list that doesn't have the "Big 4 Predators" (Chase, BoA, Wells Fargo, US Bank) as the 1-4 worst banks.

[sandiegoconservative]

06:07 PM on 02/07/2010

If you can, go with USAA. I have used them for years and love them. ATM charges for the first 14 withdrawals per month are credited back to your account, so you can use any ATM. They have great overdraft protection options. They have great loans for auto, home, and their investment portfolios are solid. I even have two credit cards with them and they have lower interest rates than most other cards. Even our auto insurance is the lowest out of all the competitors. I cannot think of anything bad about them, other than you need to be military or former, or related to a military person to join.

[livingfree]

12:42 PM on 02/09/2010

Mention USAA to BoA, they will go hostile on you. In fact, mention USAA period, they can't compare.

[land2341]

12:29 PM on 02/07/2010

Severely annoying to do this like this. Give me a freaking list.

[geoteapa]

01:05 AM on 02/06/2010

corporate powers use commercial banks for business. an individual can not expect a commercial bank to respond ethically to their needs. they wont do it even with all the b.s. advertisement. the problem is that small banks are not supported to serve the individual. if they do become profitable (small banks with good outreach to the community) you can only guess what happens. the small bank gets consumed, stripped and relegated to do the will of the overlord. there was a time a person,known in the community could get a loan to enhance his small business. (without duress,prejudice and immoral interest rates) that was the american dream need i say it has become a nightmare. americans have got to begin the boycott. start with one bank, one insurance company and one oil company and you will have started a revolution. you might even have to sacrifice your life pursuing that freedom.

[Lisa Ryder]

09:29 AM on 02/06/2010

My credit union has great interest rates!

[Lisa Ryder]

08:37 PM on 02/05/2010

Closed out my account with BofA and moved my money to a very friendly not for profit credit union. Manager at BofA asked me why I'm closing account and I said: private banks like yours practice bad business which hurts the small wage earners through unfair fees, you investments are risky and not good for the community, which is easy to see in downtown Chicago ... All the business are leaving, it's dead here in the loop. She asked me where am I putting my money and I told her a credit union which I have a say what happens with investments, no fees, and very low interest loans, online banking and I can use any other credit unions ATM for free. If I have to use a banks ATM the credit union pays for my fee!

[Friction57]

08:36 PM on 02/05/2010

moveyourmoney.org

[patsydecline]

06:39 PM on 02/05/2010

the problem with capitalism is you eventually run out of people to cheat" unknown

[CloseToTheEdge]

02:23 PM on 02/05/2010

Chase bank just charged me $6 to cash a check written to me by one of their account holders. Then they had the gall to ask if I wanted to open an account with them. They even told me they would waive the $6 fee if I did. I declined. Bastids! Move your money and starve these SOBs back to a size that allows them to fail without taking the entire financial system under too.

Because they deserve to fail.

[JBS]

01:50 PM on 02/09/2010

I wouldn't have paid. I'd have just taken the check down to the sheriff's office and sworn out a warrant against the writer for a bad check.

Let Chase explain to their customer why they wouldn't honor the check.

[jhoskinson]

01:28 PM on 02/05/2010

My niece who lives in my 5th-Wheel (no rent paid because she can only find part-time employment) with her 4 year old son just came in. She banks with Chase. Her son's father is dead before he was born. She has had his social security check automatically deposited for 4 years. Now she is expecting a check from IRS for $5,000 to be automatically deposited. She called her bank to see if it was in. Not only was the social security check returned but her IRS check will be returned because they closed her account because she was 68 cents overdrawn. She is heartsick. She wanted to use that money to get out on her own. I told her to switch to a local bank. When she finally was able to talk to a real person, he was actually embarrassed but said he could not do anything about it.

[Democrab]

11:54 AM on 02/05/2010

I could tell you a horror story about my experience with Bank of America, but it's too long for a comment. It's my opinion that the credit divisions of product companies are way worse than the banks. I feel that big product companies continue their blatant abuse of the 7th commandment and get away with it. The stinking Republicans can expound on the virtues of responsible bill paying but easily forget about the greed of big business and the incomprehensible policies that these slime make up as they go along.
For years in America responsible people borrowed or charged based on their income and estimated their purchase payment based on their budget: simple. This is no longer possible because consumers don't know when these credit companies are going to change their policies and suddenly implement some explosive interest rate that wasn't in the original contract. I don't see the individual state attorneys' offices doing much about them either.

[joncushman]

11:39 AM on 02/05/2010

When will America wake up to the fact that the middle class is being nickel and dimed into poverty? Once you in poverty and making $8 an hour, one late fee of $39 is equivalent to 5 hours of work or 3% of your monthly paycheck.

A penalty of 3% of your monthly income for one missed payment is cruel and unusual punishment for many Americans. Hell Wall Street stealing billions and the SEC slaps this with fines of less than .0000000000000000000000000000000000000015% of their revenues.

[sandiegoconservative]

12:09 AM on 02/08/2010

Then don't make late payments.

[SwingingFromCenter]

02:35 AM on 02/08/2010

1) Manage your finances better
2) Go to school so you won't be a loser making 8 bucks an hour.

[joncushman]

11:32 AM on 02/05/2010

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are now chartered banks, so why not on the list? if they can borrow from the government billions at zero percent interest, you should at the least let me vote my little vote that they the worst of the worst.

thank you

[wonkee]

05:32 PM on 02/08/2010

I agree all Bank Holding Companies should be on the list, including American Express which has been reducing credit lines on "card members" in good standing.