Omaha, NE – October 4, 2016 – The MSR Group (themsrgroup.wpengine.com), a leader in customer experience research within the retail banking sector, today announced it will recognize the superior customer experience performance of leading banks with The 2016 MSR Best in Retail Banking Awards.
Customer experience continues to be critically important to the financial success of banks. As is the case in other industries, retail banks that outperform their peers in terms of customer experience also tend to outperform their peers financially.
The MSR Group’s Best in Retail Banking Awards study collects feedback on customer satisfaction and advocacy among the top banks in the U.S. The second annual study included responses from more than 7,000 retail banking consumers. The study includes a wide variety of questions designed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the interactions between consumers and their bank. This year the study was expanded to include 70 different banks across the U.S.
The MSR Best in Retail Banking Awards honor the top performers in each of eight categories: Net Advocacy Rating® (NAR), Trust, Ease of Doing Business, Innovation, Branch, Online and ATM and Mobile banking services.
“A superior customer experience is the best defense a bank can mount against the rising threat posed by other banks and by non-traditional financial institutions,” Joel Vaslow, Chief Operating Officer of the MSR Group, said. “We are recognizing a select group of banks who continue to invest in their future by seeking to provide great experiences for their customers every day.”
Net Advocacy Rating® (NAR)
Listed among the eight categories is Net Advocacy Rating®, a proprietary metric that identifies consumers based on their responses to a variety of specific criteria, who consider themselves “Advocates” of their bank. The NAR® is the most effective enterprise-wide barometer of customer experience and is the most prestigious category within The MSR Group’s National Retail Banking Award’s program. The awards recognize Gold, Silver and Bronze levels within this category.
Gold Award Winners
Woodforest National Bank, Midwest Region
Citizens Bank, Northeast Region
Trustmark National Bank, South Region
Glacier Bancorp, West Region
Silver Award Winners
The Huntington National Bank, Midwest Region
Northwest Savings Bank, Northeast Region
Woodforest National Bank, South Region
Chase Bank, West Region
Bronze Award Winners
1st Source Bank, Midwest Region
New York Community Bank, Northeast Region
U.S. Bank, South Region
U.S. Bank, West Region
Banks that ranked as top performers in their respective region for Net Advocacy Rating® (NAR) perform well compared to their peers across the various customer experience attributes measured in The MSR Group’s Best in Retail Banking Awards study.
As with last year’s study, the NAR® award winners also provide branch banking experiences that rank highly compared to their peers. The strong branch experience delivered by the NAR® award winners points to branch banking remaining a critical driver of customer loyalty and advocacy despite declining branch transactions and increased adoption of electronic banking channels.
Banking Channel Awards
Study participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with multiple channels of interaction with their bank including Branch, Online, ATM and Mobile banking. The 2016 winners by channel are:
Branch
1st Source Bank, Midwest Region
PNC, Northeast Region
First Tennessee Bank, South Region
U.S. Bank, West Region
ATM
The Huntington National Bank, Midwest Region
New York Community Bank, Northeast Region
M&T Bank, South Region
Washington Federal, West Region
Online
PNC, Midwest Region
Wells Fargo, Northeast Region
Trustmark National Bank, South Region
U.S. Bank, West Region
Mobile
First National Bank, Midwest Region
People’s United Bank, N.A., Northeast Region
Frost Bank, South Region
Chase Bank, West Region
Brand Essentials Awards
Consumers were also asked to rate their own bank on three specific attributes: Trustworthiness, Ease of Doing Business and Innovation. These qualities are considered to be critical in attracting and retaining customers. The banks rated highest by consumers in 2016 for each attribute are:
Trust
PNC, Midwest Region
New York Community Bank, Northeast Region
Trustmark National Bank, South Region
Columbia Bank, West Region
Ease of Doing Business
First National Bank, Midwest Region
Northwest Savings Bank, Northeast Region
Trustmark National Bank, South Region
Columbia Bank, West Region
Innovation
PNC, Midwest Region
Citizens Bank, Northeast Region
PNC, South Region
Chase Bank, West Region
About The MSR Group
The MSR Group is a nationally recognized full-service market research company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska. The firm offers a full complement of qualitative and quantitative methodologies including APECS®, the award-winning customer satisfaction and advocacy measurement program designed specifically for the financial industry.
