Those customers who are at most need of help are the least satisfied with the advice they're getting
Canadian banks should be invaluable to their customers during a cost-of-living crisis, but some are just not getting it right.
And it’s the customers that the banks should be going above and beyond for at the most difficult times financially, that appear to be losing out according to a new report.
The JD Power 2023 Canada Retail Banking Advice Satisfaction Study shows that the Canadians who are least satisfied are those deemed financially unhealthy– based on metrics such as spending/savings ratio, creditworthiness, and safety net items like insurance coverage.
Among this sizeable cohort (66% of respondents) the satisfaction ratings for their banks’ financial advice ranges from 500 for those considered vulnerable to 562 for those who are financially stressed.
This is far below the 657 (out of 1000) rating from those customers who are considered financially healthy.
Challenges and goals
Jennifer White, senior director for banking and payments intelligence at JD Power says banks should be more in tune with their customers’ needs and provide tailored advice based on their current challenges and future goals, especially during times of financial hardship.
“Delivering advice can increase customer trust by 9 percentage points, and when the advice is completely personalized, trust rises 15 percentage points,” she said. “Unlike their US counterparts that demonstrated an improvement on that front, Canadian banks have yet to rise to the occasion and are still lagging in delivering the right advice at the right time to make a positive impact on their customers’ satisfaction.”
Customer experience and satisfaction can be boosted significantly (by 200 points) when banks excel in three key performance indicators:
- the advice completely meets the customer’s needs
- the bank representative shows genuine care for the customer’s concerns
- the advice is highly tailored to the individual
Those getting it right
Among the large Canadian banks, RBC Royal Bank ranks highest in customer satisfaction with retail banking advice for a third consecutive year, with a score of 610, followed by BMO Bank of Montreal (592) and CIBC (591) ranks third.
