CREDIT UNION SATISFACTION INDEX - Through the Looking Glass Into a New Reality YEAR-END REPORT | 2020 - CFI Group
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CREDIT UNION SATISFACTION INDEX YEAR-END REPORT | 2020 Through the Looking Glass Into a New Reality cfigroup.com ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.
Introduction 2020 was a unique year. Much like Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, it was a year where we went “through the looking glass”. Many of our assumptions about previously steady and consistent aspects of life turned into a new reality. For example, real gross domestic product (GDP) fell 3.5% in 20201 --the greatest annual decline in over 75 years. At the start of 2020, unemployment was below four percent. By April it had jumped to 15%, but by year-end it had dropped back to six percent2. Such rollercoaster statistics became the norm in the new pandemic world. Credit unions also had to adjust to the new reality. Things that had previously seemed outdated had a resurgence. For example, curbside banking became popular, making many financial institutions look like a retro burger joint (minus the roller skates on the waitstaff). And perhaps most surprisingly, people were actually encouraged to mask their faces when entering a bank. As 2020 wound down, it became clear that this new reality would lead to a new banking environment. Credit unions will still have to contend with the regular issues of customer experience - such as member engagement, community support, and problem resolution - but also must apply the lessons learned from 2020 to help shape this future. 1 US Bureau of Economic Analysis- https://www.bea.gov/news/2021/gross-domestic-product-4th-quarter-and-year-2020-advance- estimate#:~:text=Current%2Ddollar%20GDP%20decreased%202.3,(tables%201%20and%203). 2 US Department of Labor Statistics- https://www.bls.gov/charts/employment-situation/civilian-unemployment-rate.htm cfigroup.com 2 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.
Banking in the New Reality
While banking behavior certainly changed, it was not at the seismic
proportions experienced by other industries. When asked how much their
banking behavior changed in the last year, 38% of respondents indicated
at least some change, while 17% indicated it changed “significantly”. There
weren’t particularly strong feelings that this change would continue into
the future as two-thirds felt that there would be no change in the near
future.
Change in Banking Behavior
17%
Believe it will change
significantly more 15%
Change in
Past (2020)
21%
Believe it will change
somewhat more 19%
Change in
62% Future (2021)
No change in behavior
66%
The changes in banking behavior that did occur centered on how banking
tasks were conducted. Seventy percent of respondents did more than half
of their banking without any personal interaction. This is an increase of
eleven percentage points from last year.
Banking Without Personal Interaction
6%
None
4%
17%
Less than half
8% 2019
19%
About half
17%
2020
41%
More than half
43%
18%
All
27%
cfigroup.com 3 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Banking in the New Reality
Meanwhile, we also saw a seven-percentage point decrease in branch
visitation within the last three months. Instead, people increasingly used
the mobile banking app (48%, +8 points) and the telephone (30%, +4
points) to conduct their business.
Banking Channels Used
60%
Visited branch
53%
26%
Phone call with live rep
30% 2019
72%
Website
73%
2020
40%
Mobile App
48%
42%
ATM
42%
cfigroup.com 4 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Credit Union Satisfaction
Remaining Relatively Steady and Continuing to Outpace
Banks
Credit union member satisfaction traditionally scores higher than bank
satisfaction. In 2020, credit union satisfaction actually increased while
bank satisfaction continued trending downward for the second consecutive
year. Despite these fluctuations, credit union satisfaction remained
relatively steady over the past six years with an average score of 85, which
is also equal to the 2020 score.
87
86 86
85
84 84
83
82
80 80
79 79 79
78
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Credit Union Bank
cfigroup.com 5 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Satisfaction Drivers
Seeing Small Increases in 2020… With One Major Exception
While most satisfaction drivers increased slightly, there was a large decline
in Problem Resolution.
2019 2020 Change
Customer Satisfaction Index 83 85 +2
Products and Services 83 84 +1
Online Banking 88 89 +1
Mobile Applications 87 88 +1
Information/Communications 83 85 +2
Branch Convenience 84 84 0
Rates and Fees 80 80 0
Branch Staff 90 89 -1
Call Center Representative 89 88 -1
Problem Resolution 78 69 -9
Confidence to Protect Information 81 84 +3
The large decline in Problem Resolution scores did not seem to impact
Member Satisfaction because most members did not encounter a
problem. There was only a marginal one percentage point increase in
reported problems from last year. But the scores indicate that credit unions
will need to address Problem Resolution in the post-COVID world.
Experienced a Problem
13%
Experienced problem
14% 2019
87% 2020
Did not experience problem
86%
cfigroup.com 6 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Satisfaction Drivers
While the frequency of problems did not change much from last year, the
types of problems did. Respondents reported a large increase in ‘Fees
assigned incorrectly’ and ‘Online bill pay issues’ over last year. These issues
are generally not simple to solve, hence the lower overall Problem
Resolution score for 2020.
Problem Types
10%
Fees assigned incorrectly
19%
13%
Deposits not registered on time
9%
27%
Online banking issues
26%
2019
9%
Online bill pay Issues
19%
7%
Telephone banking issues 2020
10%
10%
Branch staff/customer service
6%
5%
Checks or debit/credit card issue
1%
16%
Other
9%
cfigroup.com 7 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Banking Channels in the New Reality
Website Banking
The virus did not lead a new wave of members to credit union websites in
2020. Website usage increased only slightly, as 83% (+2) of respondents
indicated visiting their credit union site in the last 60 days.
Visited Website
81%
Visited website
83% 2019
2020
19%
Did not visit website
17%
Most members went to a credit union website either to conduct banking
business or to look up general information. The ‘Conducting banking
business’ responses dropped in 2020, but the new ‘To look up general
information’ category likely drew some responses away from this option.
Primary Reasons for Website Visit
12%
Find answer to a question 9%
9%
Contact us 6% 2019
69%
Conduct banking business 53%
2020
N/A
To look up general information 28%
10%
Other 3%
cfigroup.com 8 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Banking Channels in the New Reality
Branch Banking
Branch visits lightly declined, but it was not the drastic drop-off expected.
Just under half of respondents indicated that there was no difference in
their branch banking behavior. In addition, there appears that a certain
contingent of “branch loyalists” that actually visited the branch more often
in 2020 than in pre-COVID times.
Branch Visits vs Last Year
Significantly more often 8%
Somewhat more often 7%
2020
About the same 49%
Somewhat less often 17%
Significantly less often 19%
These respondent sentiments are reinforced by actual visit behavior. The
percentage of branch loyalists who visited a branch once a week remained
unchanged from 2019. Elsewhere, branch activity only saw minor
fluctuations from pre-COVID 2019 levels.
Branch Visit Frequency
11%
At least once per week 11%
18%
2-3 times per month 16% 2019
25%
About once per month 23% 2020
41%
Every few months or less 42%
5%
Never 8%
cfigroup.com 9 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Banking Channels in the New Reality
Respondents indicated that branch locations remained as important as
ever. Sixty-seven percent of 2020 respondents said that a branch location
was at least ‘important’ to them.
Branch Importance
Very important 40%
Important 27%
2020
Somewhat important 22%
Of little importance 6%
Not at all important 5%
Branch importance remained high and stable across most usage
segments, as almost all respondents felt that a branch was necessary.
Even among those respondents who claimed to never have visited a
branch, just under two-thirds (65%) still felt that a branch was at least
“somewhat important”.
Branch Importance % (Somewhat or Very Important) by User Segment
65% Never visit branch
93% Visit every few months or less
Importance 99% Visit about once/month
96%
Visit 2-3 times/month
97%
Visit at least once per month
Regardless of their habits, most credit union members still feel branches
are an important part of union membership. These existing branches
should adapt COVID-19-related changes into their designs for new buildings
and remodels on existing branch locations. The successful branch
experience in the “new normal” will keep branches available for loyal
visitors and other segments who still consider them important institutions.
cfigroup.com 10 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Banking Channels in the New Reality
Digital Banking
Much of the 2020 change in banking behavior centered around the use of
non-personal digital channels. Eighty-three percent of respondents used
either the website or a mobile app in 2020. A majority of respondents
(73%) accessed the credit union website and just under half (48%) used
the mobile app.
Digital Banking Channel Usage
Used either 83%
Mobile app 48%
Website 73%
When asked about using these tools, almost half said they used online
(41%) and mobile (45%) banking more often in 2020 than they had
previously.
Digital Banking Usage vs Last Year
45%
More often
41%
Mobile
7%
Less often
4% Online
48%
About the same
55%
cfigroup.com 11 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Digital Banking Resistance Fades
Concurrently, we saw a general decline in resistance to conducting banking
digitally. The percentage of respondents who refused to do activities
remotely declined for both online (20%, -5 points) and mobile (27%, -7
points) banking since 2019.
When broken down by task, banking through remote channels bumped
upward in frequency. Typical activities included paying bills, transferring
funds, account inquiries, and depositing checks. See the charts in
Appendix A for further insights.
Activities Not Performed - Online
25%
Activities refused online
20%
75%
No activities refused online
80%
2019 2020
Activities Not Performed- Mobile
34%
Activities refused via mobile
27%
56%
No activities refused via mobile
66%
10%
Do not own a smartphone
7%
2019 2020
cfigroup.com 12 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Future Behaviors
The Difference Between Intent and Action
Although credit union member satisfaction went up in 2020, future
behaviors appeared relatively stagnant but remained strong.
95
94
93 93
92 92
91 91
90
89 89 89
90 86 86
89 89 89
87 87 87
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Remain Customer Use for Additional Services Recommend to Someone Else
As the graph above indicates, the intent to use additional banking services
and willingness to recommend the credit union to others held steady from
last year. But intentions don’t always translate to actual behavior.
The chart below contrasts “promoters” (score of 9 or 10 on a 10-point
scale) for both willingness to recommend and likelihood to adopt new
services with their actual behavior. The large discrepancy between intent
and actually adding new services can be attributed to the fact banking
customers don’t always have a regular need for new products, and this has
an effect on actual adoption. On the other hand, loyal members can always
promote the credit union. Marketing efforts should focus on diminishing
the gap between intention and actual recommendation behavior.
Difference between 2019 Intention and 2020 Actual Promotion
69% 69%
39% Intention 2019
21%
Actual 2020
Adding new services Recommending CU
cfigroup.com 13 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.The New Normal
The data from 2020 suggest some directions that may positively steer the
new normal for credit union banking in the near future.
While conventional wisdom suggested a large pandemic-related migration
from in-person banking to digital banking, the actual change in behavior
was less drastic. The minor gains digital banking saw in 2020 will most
likely continue. The number of activities that people will feel comfortable
conducting digitally will also continue to grow slowly.
While the pandemic may have slightly accelerated digital banking
adoption, the branch remains important in the hearts and minds of the
banking consumer. A notable membership segment will always go to a
branch. As a result, it is important to continue digital banking expansion,
but not to the detriment of the branch experience.
During the pandemic, many banking customers suffered some sort of
financial hardship. Programs such as fee forgiveness and other attempts to
help troubled members were very well-received. Showing an interest in the
financial well-being of members positively affects member satisfaction.
Interest in Financial Well-Being and Satisfaction
MSI- 87 59%
Shows interest in financial well-being
MSI- 88 71%
MSI- 61 29%
Does not show interest
MSI- 72 16%
MSI- 77 12%
Can't recall
MSI- 83 13%
Bank Credit Union
cfigroup.com 14 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.The New Normal This metric is especially important for credit unions as it appears to be a customer experience differentiator compared to banks. Credit unions were more often able to demonstrate a financial concern for their members (71%) compared to banks (59%). Going forward, a financial institution’s interest in their members’ financial well-being will continue to drive people’s choice of financial institution and ongoing brand loyalty. All institutions should therefore track this metric closely. Generally speaking, credit unions were better able to navigate a tumultuous year and delivered a more satisfying financial experience than banks. Flexible banking channels and interest in members’ financial well- being gave comfort to credit union members throughout the pandemic. Inevitably some satisfaction may diminish as fee forgiveness and other suspended procedures are reinstated. The successful credit union will capitalize on that goodwill as we all transition to the post-pandemic new normal. cfigroup.com 15 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.
Methodology About the Approach This study is the eighth edition of the CFI Group Credit Union Satisfaction Index (CUSI) survey designed to determine how well credit unions are faring in the current retail banking environment. CFI Group asked 500 credit union members and bank customers across the U.S. to rate their member/customer experience with their primary financial institution (i.e., the institution where they conduct at least the majority of their banking). The Credit Union Satisfaction Index looks not only at overall satisfaction for credit unions, but also examines the key drivers of satisfaction and important business outcomes affected by member satisfaction. cfigroup.com 16 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.
CFI Group
About CFI Group
Since 1988, CFI Group has delivered customer experience measurement
and business insights from its Ann Arbor, Michigan headquarters and a
network of global offices.
As founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI),
CFI Group is the only company within the United States licensed to apply
customized ACSI methodology in both the private and public sectors. Using
this patented technology and top research experts, CFI Group uncovers the
business drivers and financial impact of customer experience.
For more information, visit cfigroup.com or contact:
CFI GROUP SOLUTIONS FOR CREDIT UNIONS
MARK GALAUNER
Financial Services Program Director
Mark has over 20 years of customer satisfaction
experience, is a published author, and is also on the faculty
at the School of Communication at Cleveland State
University.
Phone: 734-623-1384
Email: mgalauner@cfigroup.com
cfigroup.com 17 ©2021 CFI Group.All rights reserved.Appendix
Tasks Performed Remotely
Remote Account Inquiry Remote Loan Payment
24% 5%
At least once per week 27% At least once per week 7%
17% 9%
2-3 times per month 22% 2019 2-3 times per month 11%
16% 18%
About once per month About once per month
14% 2020 19%
20% 12%
Every few months or less 17% Every few months or less 8%
23% 55%
Never 20% Never 56%
Remote Bill Pay Remote Check Deposit
10%
17% At least once per week 13%
At least once per week 22%
22%
2-3 times per month 30% 2019 2-3 times per month 20%
30%
25% 19%
About once per month 27%
About once per month 23%
2020
6% 24%
Every few months or less 5% Every few months or less 26%
23%
Never 16% Never 25%
18%
Remote Fund Transfer
12%
At least once per week 15%
29%
2-3 times per month 28% 2019
26%
About once per month 27% 2020
20%
Every few months or less 22%
13%
Never 8%
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