Fidelity and Charles Schwab advisors came out on top in a customer satisfaction survey on financial services firms by the American Customer Satisfaction Index, but several other big names were not far behind.
Fidelity scored an 81% satisfaction rating from customers, while Charles Schwab received an 80% satisfaction rating in the "financial advisor" industry category, according to survey results released today. Both were increases from 79% approval ratings they earned in last year’s report. The ratings were based on responses from more than 15,000 consumers who used various types of financial services from different outlets in 2020 and 2021.
Wells Fargo, Bank of America Merrill and Morgan Stanley earned the next three spots with satisfaction ratings of 79%, 78% and 78% respectively. All represented improvements of one percentage point over the previous year. Also ranked were UBS at 77%, independent advisors at 76%, Raymond James at 76%, and LPL Financial at 75%.
“Customer satisfaction is a driving force that impacts the financial outlook of individual firms and the health of the U.S. economy at large,” the American Customer Satisfaction Index said. The survey was taken between October 2020 and September. Customers were asked to evaluate their recent experiences with products and services.
The services rated highest by customers for financial advisors were the quality and reliability of the mobile app; satisfaction with the website; the ease of opening an account; and satisfaction with the call center.
The survey also ranked banks and credit unions with questions centered on services each industry segment provides. Capital One, PNC Bank and TD Bank had the highest satisfaction ratings among national banks, according to the survey.
The Index also ranked a number of other industries for satisfaction and breweries and restaurants earned the highest ratings. Banks ranked 10th, financial advisors 11th, online investment firms 15th, and credit unions 24th.
For online investment services Vanguard, and Fidelity came out on top with satisfaction ratings of 80% and 79% respectively. Of the 47 industries rated by the Index, internet service providers and subscription television services came in last with 65% approval ratings.