BofA ranks last among peers in customer satisfaction poll

Bank of America has drawn the lowest score among the largest U.S. banks graded in an annual customer-satisfaction survey, marking the fifth year in a row the Charlotte bank has placed last.

The second-largest U.S. bank by assets earned a 68 on the American Customer Satisfaction Index’s 100-point scale, results released Tuesday show. That’s down from 69 the year before.

Among the four biggest U.S. banks by assets, Wells Fargo received the highest score, 75. Citibank and Chase scored 73 and 71, respectively. Wells was the only one of the top four to score higher than last year.

Bank of America is the only bank among the four whose score has never returned to prerecession levels.

“We take our clients’ feedback very seriously,” Bank of America spokeswoman Anne Pace said. “We are confident in our relationship strategy and the investments we are making to improve our clients’ experience with us.”

The report does not give specific reasons behind changes in a bank’s score. David VanAmburg, managing director of the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based company that produces the index, said a drop indicates consumers perceived an erosion in customer service and the value they are receiving from a company.

Since CEO Brian Moynihan took over in 2010, Bank of America has shed about 1,200 branches. The bank has also been eliminating traditional drive-up teller service at some of its branches in recent years, including some in Charlotte.

The overall score for banks was 76, flat from last year. Smaller banks as a category scored higher than larger banks.

Results are based on 9,202 customer surveys from the third quarter of this year.

Tuesday’s study follows a separate report on Monday showing Bank of America ranked lower than last year in customer satisfaction with mortgage originators.

In the 2015 J.D. Power rankings, Bank of America tied for third place with Winston-Salem’s BB&T. Last year, Bank of America was in second place.

Regarding the J.D. Power findings, Pace said the bank is “pleased with our continued improvement in client responsiveness and top-tier standing with our peers.”

This story was originally published November 16, 2015 at 7:01 PM with the headline "BofA ranks last among peers in customer satisfaction poll."