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As the national economy inched its way towards a soft landing last year, consumers’ satisfaction with their banks grew.
According to the J.D. Power 2025 U.S. Retail Banking Satisfaction Study, overall customer satisfaction with primary retail banking partners is 655 (on a 1,000-point scale), which is 11 points higher than the 2024 study. Additionally, customers have become more loyal to their institutions with year-over-year scores in regards to the likelihood of staying loyal (definitely will not switch banks) is up 2 percentage points, and the likelihood to reuse the same bank (definitely will) is up 3 percentage points.
“Retail banks have really upped their games when it comes to giving customers the resources they need to navigate a challenging economic environment,” Jennifer White, senior director of banking and payments intelligence at J.D. Power, said in a statement. “Those efforts include not only delivering on the basics of transactional efficiency and customer engagement but also undertaking more meaningful efforts to empower customers to understand and avoid unnecessary fees, resolve problems quickly and utilize additional personal financial management tools and supportive services.”
While fees can leave customers growing more upset with their bank, more customers are understanding of the fees their institution charges. The percentage of customers who say they completely understand their bank’s fee structure has risen five percentage points from a year ago and the percentage of customers who say their bank completely communicated how to avoid being charged fees is up four percentage points.
The study also measures customer satisfaction with retail banks in 15 geographic regions, including New England.
Bangor Savings Bank tallied 711 points and was the top bank in New England for an eighth consecutive year, with Massachusetts-based Rockland Trust and Eastern Bank taking a close second and third, respectively.
The top bank across all regions was Centier Bank from the North Central region, which tallied 746 points.
The 2025 study is based on responses from 109,724 retail customers of the largest banks in the United States regarding their experiences with their retail banking institution and was fielded from January 2024 through January 2025. National banks are defined as banks with more than $300 billion in domestic deposits; regional banks are those with $65 billion-$299 billion in domestic deposits and at least 200 branches nationally; and midsize banks are those with 45-100 branches nationally and at least 20 branches within a respective region.
