Banks show new gains in customer engagement
Customer expectations of banks and credit unions have shifted away from the more traditional roles of industry leaders, guardians and protectors of customer finances, and banks are catching up quickly in terms of overall customer engagement, according to the latest National Benchmarking/Pulse of America survey from Allegiance.
The company's ongoing consumer survey tracks and compares customer satisfaction, loyalty and engagement trends at for US banks and credit unions to determine the factors that have the strongest impact on customer engagement.
The latest study found that credit unions continue to have much higher customer engagement levels than banks, but that the gap is narrowing. In fact, credit unions saw a significant drop in customer engagement, from 57% to 49% between January and June 2009 (the sharpest drop seen in credit union engagement since the survey began in October 2007).
At the same time, engagement levels among older customers have fallen. While levels remained constant for customers aged 54 and younger, customers aged 55 and older posted a 10% decline in engagement.
The study also noted that both banks and credit unions now appear to be focusing more of their customer engagement resources on the most profitable consumer demographics. While engagement has falled by 8% among customers with an annual income of up to US$50,000, it has increased by 3% among those with an annual income of US$50,000 - US$150,000.
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