Canadian banks aren’t fully meeting small businesses’ expectations, according to a survey just released by California-based marketing information services company J.D. Power and Associates.
The survey found that only Scotiabank beat out the industry average, scoring 733 out of 1,000 on a scale of small businesses’ overall satisfaction with banking services.
The survey found that the remaining four of Canada’s top-five banks scored beneath industry satisfaction average (728), at:
- 725 for RBC Royal Bank;
- 724 for TD Canada Trust;
- 711 for BMO Bank of Montreal; and
- 689 for CIBC.
The survey ranked small businesses’ satisfaction with their primary financial institution for account activities, account manager, facility, fees, product offerings, account information, credit services and problem resolution.
Jim Miller, senior director of banking for J.D. Power and Associates, said banks need to deliver “superior” in-person service for small business customers, who conduct three times more in-person transactions than retail banking customers.
“Because of the value of small business relationships – the average small business customer has almost double the deposits of the average retail customer and four times higher loans – banks should strive to offer a higher level of service to these small business customers than for typical retail customers,” he said.
