Bigger Isn't Always Better: CUs Beat out the Banks (Again)

Posted by Lisa Hochgraf

Credit unions have once again beaten out the banks in a consumer ranking of their satisfaction.

In the American Consumer Satisfaction Index, a national economic indicator of customer evaluations of the quality of products and services available to household consumers in the United States, credit unions have made their debut this quarter with a score of 84. Not so surprisingly, banks retreated from last year's results, falling 4 percent to an ACSI score of 75, as they cut costs across services to offset large financial losses from the subprime mortgage crisis.

Wachovia, included for the last time in ACSI before becoming a part of Wells Fargo, falls 4 percent to 76, but still leads the industry. Wells Fargo climbs 4 percent to 72, leaving Citigroup (69) alone at the bottom of the category.

Claes Fornell, is the Donald C. Cook professor of business administration and director of the National Quality Research Center at the University of Michigan's Stephen M. Ross School of Business, which produces the study together with the American Society for Quality. According to Fornell, CUs' score follows previous survey trends.

"Credit unions are typically smaller than most banks, and their higher customer satisfaction follows a pattern in many industries where smaller companies tend to offer a better and more individualized service," he commented.

Bigger isn't aways better, is it. Let's tout the difference.