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EXCLUSIVE: Top Banks Turn In Poor Online Customer Service
Earlier this fall, an American Bankers Association study found that consumers for the first time prefer interacting with their banks online than at branches.
If 25% of all consumers prefer to do their banking online, we wondered how good is the online customer service from banks? The answer: poor.
Starting at the beginning of November, BankInnovation.net conducted an online mystery shopping exercise to find out. We queried the email customer service of the 10 largest banks in the nation about their consumer banking products. We tried to keep our query simple and straightforward, akin to the requests likely to come from an average financial products consumer. The request: “Send me information about your consumer banking products.”
Only one bank, SunTrust Banks Inc., actually replied with a response that fully answered our query. Additionally, SunTrust offered us the option to ping the bank back for more information, unlike some other banks in our study. Together, these factors led SunTrust to score a 7 out of a possible 10 to be crowned best in online customer service among the Top 10 banks in the US.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was Wells Fargo & Co., which we always considered to be among the more web-savvy banks in the nation. No longer. Wells scored a zero out of a possible 10 in online customer service, mainly because the bank offered no opportunity for consumers to send the bank an email or electronic query about its products. Wells has no “contact us” via email or “email us” link on its “customer service” page, although you can report a phishing episode via email. That’s not very helpful to consumers who want to learn more about Wells’s products.
SCREEN SHOT OF WELLS FARGO’S CUSTOMER SERVICE PAGE
Only existing customers can email Wells Fargo.
The actual responses to the BankInnovation.net query varied widely, and most banks didn’t answer our simple query. Consider US Bancorp’s reply:
Thank you for the opportunity to assist you through U.S. Bank’s online services. Thank you for your interest in U.S. Bank. All of our banking products can be viewed online at www.usbank.com. If there is a specific type of product you are interested in, please let know and we will be glad to help you further.
Not exactly what we were looking for.
Each element of the interaction was assigned a score by BankInnovation.net, from whether the bank accepted email queries to the quality of the responses from the bank. The greatest possible score was 10. The average score was 3.7. Bank of America Corp. ranked second; BB&T Corp. and Citibank tied for third. Oddly, though, BB&T’s response to our query was the oddest. For some reason – no doubt because of an automated email response system – it misinterpreted our request. As stated, we asked for “information about your consumer banking products.” BB&T interpreted that as a request for a copy of its “Bank Services Agreement and Financial Center Pricing Guide.” Apparently, they are in the mail.
FULL TEXT OF SUNTRUST’S WINNING RESPONSE
======================== Please include the following line in any e-mail correspondence regarding this issue: Contact number: SunTrust{{1525123}} ========================
Thank you for contacting SunTrust. We offer several checking account options for you to choose from. I have listed information about the accounts below. Thank you for choosing SunTrust and we look forward to banking with you.
FREE CHECKING
$0 – Monthly maintenance fee
$0 – Minimum balance requirement
Free 1st Order of Checks (Small Package of Standard Checks) Unlimited teller transactions Unlimited Check writing Free SunTrust Visa Classic Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s Free Automated Telephone Banking Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Overdraft Protection Options Equifax Silver level ID theft protection at a discounted rate FDIC Insurance
STUDENT CHECKING
$0 – Monthly maintenance fee
$0 – Minimum balance requirement
Free 1st Order of Checks (Small Package of Standard Checks) Unlimited teller transactions Unlimited Check writing Free SunTrust Visa Classic Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s
2 free uses of non-SunTrust ATM’s per cycle (only waives the fee charged by SunTrust) Free Automated Telephone Banking Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Overdraft Protection Options Equifax Silver level ID theft protection as a discounted rate FDIC Insurance
SOLID CHOICE CHECKING
$14 monthly maintenance fee, but this fee is waived first 2 statement cycles after opening account then waived with $5,000 in the Solid Choice checking account OR $15,000 total relationship (linked savings, money market, CD, or IRA accounts) Free Standard checks or $5 discount on other special checks Unlimited teller transactions Unlimited Check Writing Free SunTrust Visa Gold Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s
4 free foreign ATM Transactions per statement cycle ATM surcharge refunds up to $10 per statement cycle Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Free Traveler’s Cheques Free Cashier’s Checks Free Money Orders 0.25% discount on installment loans with relationship pricing on rates.
Eligible for PREMIUM MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT Overdraft Protection Options Detailed Monthly Combined Statement Free Small Safety deposit box or $40 discount on larger boxes Tiered Interest Rates Free Equifax Silver level ID theft protection for one account holder FDIC Insurance
SIGNATURE ADVANTAGE CHECKING
$25 monthly maintenance fee, but this fee is waived first 60 days after opening account then waived with $25,000 minimum in deposit or securities or $50,000 total relationship balance (linked savings, money market, CD, or IRA accounts as well as Loan or Line Commitments or SunTrust Mortgage).
Unlimited teller transactions
Unlimited Checkwriting
Free standard checks or $24.95 discount on special checks Free SunTrust Visa Platinum Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s and non-SunTrust ATM’s Free PC Banking with Bill Pay (Quicken, QuickBooks, Money) Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Free Travelers checks Free Cashier Checks Free Money Orders 0.25% discount on installment loans with relationship pricing on rates.
SunTrust Internet Investing
Eligible for PREMIUM MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT Free Automated Telephone Banking Overdraft Protection Options Detailed Monthly Summary Statement Free Small Safety deposit box or $40 discount on larger boxes Tiered Interest Rates Free Equifax Silver level ID theft protection for one account holder FDIC Insurance
Thank you also for your interest in a SunTrust Savings account. Below I have listed the features of the Savings accounts and Money Market accounts that SunTrust offers. The interest rates on these accounts will differ by the amount kept within the account. If you have any questions regarding these or any other of SunTrust’s services or are ready to open one of these accounts, please contact me at the number below! Thank you again, and have a great day!
Compare Rates:
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=472&PageID=0&cached=true&mode=2&userID=2
PERSONAL SAVINGS
Opening deposit $100.00
Minimum balance required to avoid a fee none
Withdrawals – 2 per month ($3.00 for each additional)
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/personal_savings_account/473
GET STARTED SAVINGS
Opening deposit $100
A $3.00 per month maintenance fee is waived if you auto transfer the minimum of $10.00 each month from a SunTrust Checking account.
You’ll have 2 authorized withdrawals per month.
There will be an excessive withdrawal fee of $4.00 for each additional withdrawal.
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/get_started_savings/1869
MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT
Opening Deposit $2500.00
Minimum balance required to avoid a fee $2500.00
You are allowed 6 Withdrawals per month (3 can be by check) ($15 for each additional).
There are 5 Interest rate tiers (allowing for higher yields for higher balances).
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/money_market_performance_account/474
PREMIUM MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT
(Only available with a linked Solid Choice or Signature Advantage checking account)
Opening Deposit $2500.00
Minimum balance required to avoid a fee $2500.00
You are allowed 6 Withdrawals per month (3 can be by check) ($15 for each additional).
There are 5 Interest rate tiers (allowing for higher yields for higher balances).
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/premium_money_market_performance_account/1519
Sincerely,
Richard Griffith
STOLI/Specialty Sales/e-Sales
SunTrust Banks, Inc.
[FULL CONTACT INFORMATION PROVIDED]
Live Solid. Bank Solid.
Earlier this fall, an American Bankers Association study found that consumers for the first time prefer interacting with their banks online than at branches.
If 25% of all consumers prefer to do their banking online, we wondered how good is the online customer service from banks? The answer: poor.
Starting at the beginning of November, BankInnovation.net conducted an online mystery shopping exercise to find out. We queried the email customer service of the 10 largest banks in the nation about their consumer banking products. We tried to keep our query simple and straightforward, akin to the requests likely to come from an average financial products consumer. The request: “Send me information about your consumer banking products.”
Only one bank, SunTrust Banks Inc., actually replied with a response that fully answered our query. Additionally, SunTrust offered us the option to ping the bank back for more information, unlike some other banks in our study. Together, these factors led SunTrust to score a 7 out of a possible 10 to be crowned best in online customer service among the Top 10 banks in the US.
On the opposite end of the spectrum was Wells Fargo & Co., which we always considered to be among the more web-savvy banks in the nation. No longer. Wells scored a zero out of a possible 10 in online customer service, mainly because the bank offered no opportunity for consumers to send the bank an email or electronic query about its products. Wells has no “contact us” via email or “email us” link on its “customer service” page, although you can report a phishing episode via email. That’s not very helpful to consumers who want to learn more about Wells’s products.
SCREEN SHOT OF WELLS FARGO’S CUSTOMER SERVICE PAGE
Only existing customers can email Wells Fargo.
The actual responses to the BankInnovation.net query varied widely, and most banks didn’t answer our simple query. Consider US Bancorp’s reply:
Thank you for the opportunity to assist you through U.S. Bank’s online services. Thank you for your interest in U.S. Bank. All of our banking products can be viewed online at www.usbank.com. If there is a specific type of product you are interested in, please let know and we will be glad to help you further.
Not exactly what we were looking for.
Each element of the interaction was assigned a score by BankInnovation.net, from whether the bank accepted email queries to the quality of the responses from the bank. The greatest possible score was 10. The average score was 3.7. Bank of America Corp. ranked second; BB&T Corp. and Citibank tied for third. Oddly, though, BB&T’s response to our query was the oddest. For some reason – no doubt because of an automated email response system – it misinterpreted our request. As stated, we asked for “information about your consumer banking products.” BB&T interpreted that as a request for a copy of its “Bank Services Agreement and Financial Center Pricing Guide.” Apparently, they are in the mail.
FULL TEXT OF SUNTRUST’S WINNING RESPONSE
======================== Please include the following line in any e-mail correspondence regarding this issue: Contact number: SunTrust{{1525123}} ========================
Thank you for contacting SunTrust. We offer several checking account options for you to choose from. I have listed information about the accounts below. Thank you for choosing SunTrust and we look forward to banking with you.
FREE CHECKING
$0 – Monthly maintenance fee
$0 – Minimum balance requirement
Free 1st Order of Checks (Small Package of Standard Checks) Unlimited teller transactions Unlimited Check writing Free SunTrust Visa Classic Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s Free Automated Telephone Banking Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Overdraft Protection Options Equifax Silver level ID theft protection at a discounted rate FDIC Insurance
STUDENT CHECKING
$0 – Monthly maintenance fee
$0 – Minimum balance requirement
Free 1st Order of Checks (Small Package of Standard Checks) Unlimited teller transactions Unlimited Check writing Free SunTrust Visa Classic Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s
2 free uses of non-SunTrust ATM’s per cycle (only waives the fee charged by SunTrust) Free Automated Telephone Banking Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Overdraft Protection Options Equifax Silver level ID theft protection as a discounted rate FDIC Insurance
SOLID CHOICE CHECKING
$14 monthly maintenance fee, but this fee is waived first 2 statement cycles after opening account then waived with $5,000 in the Solid Choice checking account OR $15,000 total relationship (linked savings, money market, CD, or IRA accounts) Free Standard checks or $5 discount on other special checks Unlimited teller transactions Unlimited Check Writing Free SunTrust Visa Gold Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s
4 free foreign ATM Transactions per statement cycle ATM surcharge refunds up to $10 per statement cycle Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Free Traveler’s Cheques Free Cashier’s Checks Free Money Orders 0.25% discount on installment loans with relationship pricing on rates.
Eligible for PREMIUM MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT Overdraft Protection Options Detailed Monthly Combined Statement Free Small Safety deposit box or $40 discount on larger boxes Tiered Interest Rates Free Equifax Silver level ID theft protection for one account holder FDIC Insurance
SIGNATURE ADVANTAGE CHECKING
$25 monthly maintenance fee, but this fee is waived first 60 days after opening account then waived with $25,000 minimum in deposit or securities or $50,000 total relationship balance (linked savings, money market, CD, or IRA accounts as well as Loan or Line Commitments or SunTrust Mortgage).
Unlimited teller transactions
Unlimited Checkwriting
Free standard checks or $24.95 discount on special checks Free SunTrust Visa Platinum Check Card Free use of SunTrust ATM’s and non-SunTrust ATM’s Free PC Banking with Bill Pay (Quicken, QuickBooks, Money) Free Internet Banking with Bill Pay Free Mobile Banking Free Travelers checks Free Cashier Checks Free Money Orders 0.25% discount on installment loans with relationship pricing on rates.
SunTrust Internet Investing
Eligible for PREMIUM MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT Free Automated Telephone Banking Overdraft Protection Options Detailed Monthly Summary Statement Free Small Safety deposit box or $40 discount on larger boxes Tiered Interest Rates Free Equifax Silver level ID theft protection for one account holder FDIC Insurance
Thank you also for your interest in a SunTrust Savings account. Below I have listed the features of the Savings accounts and Money Market accounts that SunTrust offers. The interest rates on these accounts will differ by the amount kept within the account. If you have any questions regarding these or any other of SunTrust’s services or are ready to open one of these accounts, please contact me at the number below! Thank you again, and have a great day!
Compare Rates:
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt?open=512&objID=472&PageID=0&cached=true&mode=2&userID=2
PERSONAL SAVINGS
Opening deposit $100.00
Minimum balance required to avoid a fee none
Withdrawals – 2 per month ($3.00 for each additional)
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/personal_savings_account/473
GET STARTED SAVINGS
Opening deposit $100
A $3.00 per month maintenance fee is waived if you auto transfer the minimum of $10.00 each month from a SunTrust Checking account.
You’ll have 2 authorized withdrawals per month.
There will be an excessive withdrawal fee of $4.00 for each additional withdrawal.
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/get_started_savings/1869
MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT
Opening Deposit $2500.00
Minimum balance required to avoid a fee $2500.00
You are allowed 6 Withdrawals per month (3 can be by check) ($15 for each additional).
There are 5 Interest rate tiers (allowing for higher yields for higher balances).
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/money_market_performance_account/474
PREMIUM MONEY MARKET PERFORMANCE ACCOUNT
(Only available with a linked Solid Choice or Signature Advantage checking account)
Opening Deposit $2500.00
Minimum balance required to avoid a fee $2500.00
You are allowed 6 Withdrawals per month (3 can be by check) ($15 for each additional).
There are 5 Interest rate tiers (allowing for higher yields for higher balances).
https://www.suntrust.com/portal/server.pt/community/premium_money_market_performance_account/1519
Sincerely,
Richard Griffith
STOLI/Specialty Sales/e-Sales
SunTrust Banks, Inc.
[FULL CONTACT INFORMATION PROVIDED]
Live Solid. Bank Solid.
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