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: