Regional banks, which have been hit particularly hard by
J.D. Power canvassed nearly 17,000 U.S. banking or credit card customers between mid-February and the end of March. In mobile banking satisfaction, regional banks received an average score of 625 out of a possible 1,000, while bigger banks averaged 671.
Large banks with big budgets to invest in technology have certain built-in advantages. Still, regional lenders have an opportunity to attract and retain customers by expanding their digital services, J.D. Power said.
The banking crisis that started in March could add urgency to those efforts. It showed that a bank can be destabilized by customers' ability to move millions of dollars with the click of a few buttons.
Over the last year, higher interest rates have led many consumers to move money between their various accounts more frequently.
"In the absence of interest rates," asked Jennifer White, J.D. Power's senior director for global banking and payments intelligence, "what does the bank bring to the relationship that adds value in a way that customers are hesitant to shift their deposits elsewhere?"
As concerns about the safety of uninsured deposits skyrocketed in March,
"There were a couple of tweets and then this thing went down much faster than has happened in history," Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser
In the J.D. Power survey, Bank of America posted the top mobile banking satisfaction score, followed by Capital One and JPMorgan Chase. All three of those banks fared better than the top-ranking regional lender, Huntington Bank, which was followed by Santander Bank and KeyBank.
Regional banks fared better in online banking satisfaction, posting an average score of 645, which topped the 642 average for larger banks.
Factors that influence customer satisfaction include visual appeal, navigation and speed of digital banking services, according to White.
The J.D. Power survey also found that banks that provide personalized financial management tools, including credit score monitoring, budgeting tools and spending analyses, are scoring better with customers.
Satisfaction rose by 127 points when customers engaged with these types of digital banking services, according to the survey.
"The more engaged that a customer is with a digital property, the more likely they are to remain loyal to the bank," White said.
At a time when customers have the opportunity to transfer money into higher-yielding accounts, regional banks can add value by making enhancements to the process of moving money, White said.
Emmett Higdon, director of digital banking at the consulting firm Javelin Strategy & Research, agreed that regional banks can achieve higher customer satisfaction by positioning themselves as money movement hubs.
Regional banks "are probably not going to have all the assets or deposits of their customers, but if the bank is the easiest place to move money or monitor accounts, customers may decide to route all of their transactions through you," Higdon said.
This trend seems to be particularly strong for younger generations, Higdon said. Gen Z consumers typically hold accounts at the larger banks that are faster at processing transactions, he added.
"These are the kinds of things that regional banks really need to focus on," Higdon said. "Not so much so that customers can move all their money out before a bank goes under. But quite the opposite, so that customers go to that bank to rely on as a trusted resource."
