Forrester just published Customer Advocacy 2008: How US Consumers Rate Their Banks, Brokerages, And Insurers which is an annual ranking of 41 financial institutions. For this analysis, customer advocacy is defined as:
The perception on the part of consumers that the firm does what’s best for its customers, not just the firm’s own bottom line.
It turns out that the customer advocacy ratings across all three groups of financial institutions dropped this year after increasing last year. And the overall rating across financial institutions is at its lowest level in five years. Here are some other highlights of the rankings:
- Top five firms: USAA (was also #1 in 2007), Independent financial advisor, Credit unions, AAA, and State Farm.
- Bottom five firms: Citibank (was also #41 in 2007), Regions Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and TD AMERITRADE.
- Largest decline from last year: A.G. Edwards in brokerage, AIG and New York Life in insurance, National City in banking.
The bottom line: As I’ve written to Citibank’s CEO Vikram Pandit in the past, Citibank needs a customer experience overhaul!
