J.D. Power and Associates Reports: A Majority of Retail Bank Customers in Canada Take Advantage of Expanded Financial Product Offerings

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     <<     TD Canada Trust and President's Choice Financial Rank Highest in Customer     Satisfaction with Retail Banks in Canada     >> 

TORONTO, Aug. 27 /CNW/ - While chequing and savings account services remain the foundation of customer relationships with their retail banks, a majority of customers also use their primary financial institution for additional services such as credit cards, investment products and insurance, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2008 Canadian Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction Study(SM) released today.

The study finds that a majority of retail bank customers use their primary financial institutions for additional services such as borrowing, investment and insurance provided through an affiliated financial institution. Among customers of the "Big 5" banks, 76 percent also have a borrowing product with the financial institution where they hold their chequing or savings account, while 40 percent have investment products and 20 percent have insurance products. Within the midsize bank segment, 69 percent of customers have a borrowing product in addition to their deposit account, while 27 percent have investment products and 16 percent have insurance products.

"By building strong relationships with customers through their retail banking deposit accounts, banks have opportunities to expand these relationships to involve additional financial services, which encourages customers to move a larger share of their financial holdings to their primary financial institution-ultimately creating a positive impact on bank revenue," said Lubo Li, senior director of research at J.D. Power and Associates. "Providing reliable service and innovative banking products-such as electronic statements with cheque images and no-fee banking-paves the way toward deepening customer relationships with their financial institutions. In addition, quality financial advice offered at retail bank branches has a positive impact on satisfaction, particularly among customers who have more holdings with their bank."

Now in its third year, the study examines customer satisfaction with the overall retail banking experience in two segments: the Big 5 retail banks and midsize retail banks. In both segments, customer satisfaction is measured across six factors (listed in order of importance): transaction experiences; account set-up and product offerings; facility; fees; account statements; and problem resolution. Overall satisfaction is measured on a 1,000-point scale.

TD Canada Trust ranks highest in overall customer satisfaction among Big 5 banks for a third consecutive year, achieving a score of 777. TD Canada Trust performs well across all six factors that drive satisfaction.

Among midsize retail banks, President's Choice Financial ranks highest for a second consecutive year, with a score of 816. President's Choice Financial performs particularly well in transaction experience, account set-up and product offerings, fees, and account statements.

The study also finds that the importance of the online banking channel has increased steadily. In 2008, the online channel represents 29 percent of overall satisfaction with the transaction experience, compared with only 19 percent in 2006.

"While in-branch transactions remain influential in customer satisfaction, online banking has become an essential tool for routine banking and monitoring activities," said Li. "Customers who use online banking services report checking their account balances online 11 times per month, on average. For this reason, banking Web sites that have pages that load quickly and offer a range of services, especially bill payment functionality, are particularly pleasing to customers."

The 2008 Canadian Retail Banking Customer Satisfaction Study is based on responses from 10,823 customers who use a primary financial institution for personal banking. The study includes the largest financial institutions-banks and credit unions-in Canada, and was fielded in two periods in 2008, between March and April and between June and July.

About J.D. Power and Associates

Headquartered in Westlake Village, Calif., J.D. Power and Associates is a global marketing information services company operating in key business sectors including market research, forecasting, performance improvement, training and customer satisfaction. The company's quality and satisfaction measurements are based on responses from millions of consumers annually. For more information on car reviews and ratings, car insurance, health insurance, cell phone ratings, and more, please visit JDPower.com. J.D. Power and Associates is a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies

Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP) is a leading global information services provider meeting worldwide needs in the financial services, education and business information markets through leading brands such as Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, BusinessWeek and J.D. Power and Associates. The Corporation has more than 280 offices in 40 countries. Sales in 2007 were $6.8 billion. Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

No advertising or other promotional use can be made of the information in this release without the express prior written consent of J.D. Power and Associates. www.jdpower.com/corporate

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Media Relations Contacts: Mark James, Cohn & Wolfe, Toronto, ON, (647) 259-3269, [email protected]; John Tews, J.D. Power and Associates, Troy, Mich., (248) 312-4119, [email protected]