BCA

By Dennis Jacobe, Gallup Chief Economist

 As the Senate considers financial reform legislation, a new Gallup poll shows that Americans’ confidence in banks has not returned on Main Street as it has on Wall Street. The percentage of Americans saying they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in U.S. banks is now 20% — not much different from the 18% of a year ago or the 22% of last summer. Four in 10 Americans currently say they have “very little” confidence in U.S. financial institutions.

Gallup has measured banking confidence in various surveys dating to the late 1970s. Since the 2008-2009 financial crisis, Americans’ confidence has reached new lows, falling below the readings near 30% during the 1990-91 recession that reflected the fallout associated with the savings and loan debacle of the late 1980s.

Most Still Have Confidence in Their Main Bank

While most Americans profess comparatively little confidence in the banking industry, the majority continue to express confidence in their main or primary bank, where they do most of their banking business. As was the case last April, 58% say they have a great deal (31%) or quite a lot (27%) of confidence in their main bank. Only about 1 in 10 Americans express “very little” confidence in their primary bank.

For complete story, go to www.Gallup.com

One year after the depths of the worst financial crisis in half a century, Americans are more likely to say their financial institutions are doing what’s best for them, according to the seventh annual customer advocacy rankings by Forrester Research, Inc.. Based on a survey of more than 4,500 consumers, the customer advocacy rankings rate 46 banks, investment firms, and insurance companies in the US. As it has every year, USAA topped the Forrester rankings. And while consumer trust in financial firms has moved off the historic lows from last year, the positive sentiment is not evenly distributed: The largest US banks dominate the bottom of the rankings.

Underscoring the fact that customer trust is inching back up, 13 firms saw their scores go up by more than five percentage points in the past year. As a group, insurers bounced back higher than banks and investment firms. Customer rankings for super-regional banks also improved significantly from last year. Large banks took up the bottom seven spots in the rankings, and wealth management firms as a group had the worst customer advocacy ratings overall.

Here are the top 10 rated firms in Forrester’s 2010 customer advocacy rankings:

1. USAA (insurance)
2. A credit union
3. An independent insurance agent
4. USAA (banking)
5. An independent financial advisor
6. AAA
7. State Farm
8. A regional or local bank
9. Aflac
10. GEICO